Sculptpedia Statues, Busts and Sculptures Park sculptures and installations Ancient World & Antiquity Middle Ages & Renaissance Marble & Other Stones Bronze & Other Metals

Development of a Bottle in Space

Development of a Bottle in Space is a 1912 sculpture by the Italian artist Umberto Boccioni. It is a Futurist ronde-bosse depicting a bottle that seems to break apart in space. The original plaster version was bought from Benedetta Cappa in 1956 and is now kept at the Museum of Contemporary Art of the University of São Paulo in São Paulo, Brazil. Bronze examples are held at the Museo del Novecento in Milan and the Kunsthaus Zürich in Zurich. Two more are in New York, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.

Development of a Bottle in Space, a dark bronze abstract sculpture with geometric and curving forms on a tiered base.
Development of a Bottle in Space, a bronze abstract sculpture by Umberto Boccioni, shown with its angular base and fragmented forms.
December 2019 © · CC BY 3.0
Development of a Bottle in Space, a bronze abstract sculpture with fragmented curved and angular forms on a stepped rectangular base.
Development of a Bottle in Space by Umberto Boccioni, shown as a bronze abstract sculpture with dynamic fragmented forms.
1913 © wmpearl · Public domain
Development of a Bottle in Space, an abstract bronze sculpture with a fragmented central form set inside a bowl-like element on a stepped base.
Development of a Bottle in Space, a bronze abstract sculpture with a fragmented central form and bowl-like surround.
© · CC0
Development of a Bottle in Space, a bronze sculpture with a tall abstract form and a rectangular base.
Development of a Bottle in Space by Umberto Boccioni, shown here in a black-and-white photograph.
© · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dark abstract sculpture of Development of a Bottle in Space on a light surface, with a black-and-white studio photograph in the background.
Development of a Bottle in Space displayed on a light surface, with a studio photograph hanging behind it.
June 2016 © · CC BY 3.0

Identification

TitleDevelopment of a Bottle in Space
Original Italian titleSviluppo di una bottiglia nello spazio
ArtistUmberto Boccioni
TypeSculpture

Historical context

MovementFuturism
Year created1912
Year cast1913
ExhibitionFirst Exhibit of Futurist Sculpture in Paris, 1913
ExhibitionPanama–Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915
Historical contextMass production of glass bottles was expanding rapidly in the late 19th century around the time Boccioni formulated the work
Inspirational contextInfluenced by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto (1909) and Boccioni's own Technical Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture

Creator

Manifesto authorship noteWritten with the aid of other leading futurists
Quoted manifestoTechnical Manifesto of Futurist Painting (1910)
CastingLater cast into bronze by Boccioni himself
Initial conceptionOriginally sketched in Boccioni's Technical Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture

Materials

One cast materialSilvery bronze
Bronze version materialBronze
Original materialPlaster

Physical characteristics

Base shapeQuadrilateral
SubjectA bottle that seems to come apart in space
Height15 1/2 inches (39.4 cm)
Base dimensions23 3/4 inches long and 15 1/2 inches wide (60.3 x 39.4 cm)

Discovery and provenance

Original cast acquisitionPurchased from Benedetta Cappa in 1956

Location and ownership

Additional cast ownershipPrivate collection
Number of bronze versions in New York museumsTwo
Bronze version locationsMuseo del Novecento, Milan; Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States; Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States
Original bronze cast locationMuseo del Novecento, Milan
Current collectionMuseum of Modern Art, New York City
Original locationMuseum of Contemporary Art of the University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

History and restoration

Known castsAt least five in total, including the 1935 cast from the original plaster and four other casts made at different times
1935 castCast from the original plaster; displayed at Museo del Novecento in Milan
Public exhibition of additional castShown publicly in 2009 at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, for the centenary of Marinetti's Manifesto of Futurism
Additional cast dateCast in the 2000s

Iconography and meaning

Conceptual focusDeconstructs the three-dimensional space in and around the object; fuses the object with its environment and abolishes finite lines and the contained statue
Boccioni's stated desireTo proclaim the absolute and complete abolition of finite lines and the contained statue
Boccioni's stated intentionTo open the figure like a window and include it in the milieu in which it lives
Setting or supportShown on a much larger base, possibly machinery used in the production of glass bottles
CompositionA bottle resting on a plate, forming a still life with a rare subject in Boccioni's Futurist poetics
Associated elementA smaller hollowed-out cylindrical mass next to the bottle, resembling an empty container on a conveyor belt
Depicted objectA bottle

Appearance

Stylistic featuresChaotic, twisting, and dynamic; intended to embody dynamism
State representedShown prior to completion, while still being molded
Visual representationThree-quarter cross section

Technique

Construction techniqueBroken into winding sections and combined absolute and relative motion to create a rotary appearance
ProcessOriginally cast as a bottle, then intentionally stripped open and sculpted

Style

StyleFuturist sculpture

Significance

InterpretationMay embody dynamism
Conceptual relationConsistent with many of the themes in Boccioni's manifestos
Interpretation by Donald KuspitThe sculpture's rhythmic movement suggests a sexual connotation inherent rather than imposed; compared with Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912)
Interpretation by Marjorie PerloffThe sculpture does not represent a single bottle, but a series of bottle-shaped shells hollowed out and fit into each other; supports Boccioni's theory of a center within the object itself
Interpretation by Rosalind KraussA symbol of invariance in conflict with Boccioni's concept of dynamism; dramatizes the conflict between a single view of the object and the totality of vision needed to know it
Artistic significanceDescribed as Boccioni's first successful attempt at creating a sculpture that molds and encloses space within itself
Related artworkDynamism of a Football Player (same year)

Philosophical idea

Philosophical ideaThings do not exist in isolation but derive their fundamental properties from their surroundings
Movement principleAll things move; moving objects multiply in perception due to persistence of an image on the retina
Example from manifestoA running horse has not four legs, but twenty, and their movements are triangular
Related imageryBodies and sofas, motor buses and houses are described as penetrating and blending with one another
Futurist view on isolated objectsIsolating an individual object was seen as ridiculous and non-representational