Art of the Day Presentation Armored Train in Action –Gino Severini Analyzed and Presented by: Dominic Simone

Background Information Created in the first year of WWI During the second Industrial Revolution Artist is an Italian futurist Born in Cortona, Italy

Character: The soldiers in this image are all wearing black, and all wearing hats with their faces hidden, meaning that these people are anonymous people that don’t have identities. They are all collaborating with each other but are not completely known to each other, they look as though they could just walk away at any time or be a stranger on a crowded street. They are all focused on one point, on the side of the image, which represents how even though they are anonymous, they support the same cause as one another. All of them are holding guns, some of them are being help under the train’s wall, seemingly unable to be fired upon. Color: The colors in this image are bright and colorful, and seem to conflict on the left side, with many reds and yellows. These colors convey energy and an almost excitement about the painting and about their optimism about the future and foreseeable outcome of the war. The color of the hull is an almost white, suggesting a good and wonderful object that is the train, along with contrasting the background brings out the train and its importance. On the left side of the painting with the reds and yellows, it illustrates almost an explosion, and with that comes their war fever. The giant turret on the train supports their war fever, along with their guns. Light: The brightest part of the image is the hull. This is accentuating the importance of the train. In other words, it is glorifying the train, and from that, technology and humanity’s technological achievement. Also, the only part of this painting that is dark is in the inside of the train, around the people riding the train. The point of this contrast is to show how the train is absolute and will always go on the tracks ahead. People, on the other hand, change their minds constantly and sometimes never follow a straight path. This reveals how technology is always how you make it but people can always change their minds and can betray you, but the technology will always remain the same unless someone change it themselves. Angle: We are viewing the train from an aerial perspective. This could almost be taken as an omnipresent being that can see where humanity will eventually end up by following the tracks. The train takes up almost all of the view that we have, indicating that it is a very important part of this point in time. This angle is focusing on the train fully, and not on the landscape or tracks, showing that this painting is about the train, and not about the war going on around it. It is mostly focused on the invention of the train and the possibilities that will come in the future.

Proportion: The train is the biggest part of the image, and is the most important part of it. Something inside the train is also an important part. The cannon on the top part of the image looks bigger most of the people, meaning that the train is more dominated by machinery and is needed to bring victory and success. The train brings the people the power that they need to feel in control of things, including their futures. Placement: The train's placement running through the center of the canvas, lacking an end and a beginning, symbolizes the continuation of technology as the key to humanity's future. This signifies a new way of thinking that could go on into the future forever. A technological way of thinking that would achieve greater things than could ever be done by normal means. Setting: The ground outside the train seems to be broken up, along the left side of the painting. The train is representing their love for speed and progress, as was suddenly possible with new machinery. This shows how humanity is now starting to really triumph over nature, and can travel at great speeds and avoid most dangers that nature provides. Another thing to notice about the terrain, most of it is covered by the dust cloud, highlighting the speed that this train can manage. The smoke not only represents speed, but it symbolizes a past that they don’t want to look back on, something they would rather move on and look to the future instead of remembering the past. This was painted during the first year of WWI, and is why there are guns and things on the train. This was also during the 2 nd industrial revolution, which a time that really focused on technology and the uses of it.