The Affections of Giacomo Balla

The large, evocative canvas Affection (Affetti) depicts the artist's wife, Elisa Marcucci, and their eldest daughter Lucia—later renamed Luce—in their Roman house in the street known as via Paisiello.

In the central part is the figure of Balla's wife as she watches their daughter.

The little girl, leaning on her mother's lap, is intently reading a sheet of paper.

A strong beam of light comes from the right.

And it lights up all the darkness within the room.

The two luminous faces stand out in the half-light that envelops the room.

They attest to Balla's constant interest in figurative styles with a main focus on light.

Balla once stated: “Making light has always been my favorite study”.

The canvas, dated 1910 and signed by Giacomo Balla, protagonist of Futurism, is a replica of the central compartment of the triptych (an artwork made up of three pieces) of the same name now held in the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna di Roma).

The work was purchased by Queen Margherita directly from the painter's atelier in 1914.