The Laugh (Umberto Boccioni, Futurism)

The Laugh

Boccioni took from Bergson's "theory of laughter" in his construction of the futurism painting The Laugh. Bergson believed there was healing and relaxation found in laughter that could relieve tension and break apart a person's stiff mentality towards life. The Cubist and Futurist movements both sought to restructure the foundations of society, getting people to rethink the bourgeois culture that had restricted humanity. In response to these movements, Boccioni painted The Laugh along with other works, to create a scene that is broken apart and distinctly abstracted by a loss of structural borders. Through this painting, Boccioni demands the audience to dissect the images seen in everyday life, and to notice each piece and its contribution to the whole.

Back to the Artist Umberto Boccioni

Boccioni's Other Works

The City Rises

Unique Forms of Continuity in Space

Dynamism of a Cyclist

The Street Enters the House

Materia