READING, PA.- The Reading Public Museum announced the new exhibition, Italian Futurism, on view Saturday, June 6, 2015, and continuing through Sunday, October 4, 2015. This exhibition is on view in The Museum’s Works on Paper Gallery.

Drawn from the collection of Steve and Carol Acunto, Italian Futurism includes more than 30 works by leading Italian Futurists including Giacomo Balla, Alberto Bragaglia, Roberto Crippa, Giulio d'Anna, Gerardo Dottori, Pippo Rizzo, and Lucio Venna, among others. The colorful display features artists from the first (1908-1919) and second (1920s-1930s) waves of Italian Futurism, a dynamic artistic and social movement that glorified the energy and speed of modern life. The vibrant hues and striking imagery of the artwork truly expresses the Futurist interest in depicting energy and motion.

Futurism is central to understanding the trajectory of artistic movements such as Cubism and Divisionism. The subjects of many of the works are circus performers and acrobats, constantly in motion; the perfect image for the Futurists to capture.

These artists were advocates of modern marvels like locomotives, automobiles, and airplanes; and heralded the death of museum's and libraries as outmoded institutions of culture in their paintings, drawings, performances, and poetry. According to Mr. Acunto, who serves as Honorary Vice Consul for Italy in New York, the Futurists represent an important advance in the embracement of the modern, industrial, and urbanized world in Italy before, during, and after WWI.