An Optimistic Car, 140×104cm, 1911. Centre Pompidou collection. Russolo (1885–1947) was one of the main artists of Italian Futurism. He was originally a musician and later began painting under Marinetti’s encouragement. His work deeply integrated the optimism of modern life with mechanical symbolism. In 1913, he abandoned all plastic arts to devote himself to avant-garde music. Along with U. Piatti, his futurist aesthetics in “Total Art” directly influenced avant-garde musicians such as John Cage, particularly the Fluxus international art group.

The concept from the Futurist Manifesto that “all old themes must be swept away to express our steel, high heat, pride, and speed” especially influenced this work by Russolo, who interpreted the speed of dynamic beauty through plastic arts. Hidden within the backlit oval’s deep blue rhythm is the image of a car. Against a background of continuous red triangular shapes creating a rhythmic pattern, like a powerful motor, it expands into the surrounding space in vibrating echoes to symbolize speed. The rapidly advancing machine, impacted by hot and cold tones, bursts forth in a completely abstract painting form, revealing the speed, light, and powerful architectural forms of a new era.