On the Move: Visualising Action
Estorick Collection, 39a Canonbury Square, London N1, until 18 April
The Estorick Collection, which specialises in modern Italian art, has mounted a series of rewarding exhibitions in recent years, all of which bear some essential relationship to its permanent holdings. Futurism remains the best known and most widely celebrated modern Italian art movement, and the current exhibition helps to put in context the Futurist obsession with recording movement through the static image. This display, curated by Jonathan Miller, offers a background to and explanation for the way in which the Futurists depicted movement by examining how animal locomotion was first represented and analysed through the developments in scientific photography.
It is essentially a photographic exhibition, and the two big stars of the show (and the accompanying catalogue, price £12.95) are Eadweard Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey. Muybridge is familiar to art-lovers for the crucial inspiration he provided Francis Bacon, while the more scientific Marey is rather less known.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in