Movement in art

The first image I chose is Le Carnaval d' Harlequin by Joan Miro. The very important range of characters that are in this painting and the fact that they all have their own type of movement really makes it look like a giant carnival dance. Plus the amount of strong colors that Miro used to depict them give them a lot of energy, so of movement.

The second image is The Night by Max Beckman, a german post-world war 1 artist. I really like his work and this painting in particular because the way he drew and painted the different characters , which all seem very tense and have those specific positions , gives this impression of movement and tension in their body. I even feel very contracted , tense, when I look at it. So the movement in this is light in their action but strong in their tension.

The third image is Number 8 by Jason Pollock. The way he is using the fluidity of the paint by trowing it on the canvas gives an amazing impression of movement in all his work. Especially in this one because of the use of different colors while others series he made use fewer and colder colors .

The fourth image is two photographs of Loïe Fuller , an american artist (1862-1928), doing The Lys Dance.She created a new dance form using light fabrics, colored lightning and body movements. Those pictures had been taken as a part of her work. I think that seeing the frozen mouv of the fabric and her body gives the feeling that it continues, even if it doesn't.

Movement in art is surprising by the way that it's always still. Like in puppetry different forms of art can give feeling and impressions of movement and energy while they're just still images.

Giving life to still objects , in a way that's all what puppetry is about..

Movement in Art

The first piece of art that I've chosen is from a very important Brazilian architect called Oscar Niemeyer. He belongs to Modernism, and his style has lots to do with curves. The work below is a cathedral that he did in Brasilia, capital of Brazil, and its shape for me is almost moving. You can feel the extension of each column going to the sky…

The second piece that I’ve chosen is from a very important Brazilian artist called Tomie Ohtake. She is Japanese, but she came to Brazil around 1930 and naturalized Brazilian later on. She is a painter and also sculptor and I find that hers sculptures really shows movement. Her art is abstract, but her paintings don’t usually show much movement as her sculptures do. The monument above is at São Paulo – Latin American biggest city and where I live – in the most important avenue of the city – just next to my house… come visit me!

The third piece is from Pablo Picasso and it’s called “Weeping Woman”. For me, movement is a primary impression on cubism in general. Seeing one image from several perspectives and putting all together in one “moment” is almost like when I watch a stop-motion animation – I can slice the movement.

Finally, the fourth piece is a futurist painting called “Charge of the Lancers” by Umberto Boccioni, and it portrays the movement of a horse. Futurism is all about movement in its essence, as we know… I have the same feeling in this painting: it looks like a slicing of the movement, and all the steps were put together in one picture.

Movement in Visual Art and Sculpture

This futurist sculpture shows us movement through the act of action and recovery. The left side in mid action and the next two are depicting the process of landing on the ground. Each bend of the joints and angle of the limbs show us how this man has landed from his leap…though I’m sure it was quite painful for him to land on his knee like that



This sculpture evokes the feel of movement because it looks like a freeze frame from a dance. The bodies half in mid air and half on the ground. Also, to craned necks and very extended limbs and fingers give the impression of movement because they are almost reaching for something. The arch of the back also appears as though they are mid move since no one could be still in the position with the effects of weight and gravity


The motion is shown through the contrast of the stillness of the background and the blurred images of the cars and the street. Somewhat of a futurist look on motion, since with speed, before our eyes things are nothing but a blur.

Painting by Robert Minor. I find that the movement in this painting is expressed by not only the action of the stabbing, but the reaction as well. The dying man is reeling back and you can really sense his weight of falling by the angle of his legs and the impression that his arm is dropping. The man stabbing is in a lunge pose but his arm is also slightly blurred, giving the impression that this painting is depicting the actual moment of the stabbing to us.

Movement in Visual Art and Sculptures

For one of our assignment tasks, we had to find 4 examples of visual art and sculpture and discuss how they express movement. Here are my pictures:

"Dancing" by Maggie Squire.

Here is a statement written by the artist about the sculpture:
"Dancing... is part of my soul, I love movement in what I do because for me it is both physical and metaphysical movement. This sculpture was made from pieces picked up in a field near my home. Each figure was made of pieces from a single walk."

This piece by Maria Gurevich reminds me of the whimsical motifs in Chagall paintings. Just by suspending the scuplture in the air for the shot with her legs outstretched, the figure looks like she is floating. The slight raise of her skirt and the ruffle of in her hairpiece also allude to a passing breeze.

This is a photograph from La Clique (a cabaret show in London). I love how the camera dramatically captures the flick of water as the dancer emerges from the bath. I suppose in this way, the movement is seen by the trail it has left.

The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893). The movement is visible in the artist's sweeping brushstrokes and accentuated by bright, contrastic colours that lead the viewer's eyes around the painting.