1936
photographic
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
The Dance of the Assassinated is a 1936 photographic by Fortunato Depero, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This black-and-white photo shows four stylized figures in a twisted, angular pose. Their bodies are stretched and bent, almost like they’re melting or breaking apart. Two figures stand upright but lean into each other, while the other two crouch below, their limbs tangled. The background looks like a dark, shadowy room with a window or doorway in the back. The figures have simple, bold shapes—no small details, just strong lines and flat areas. Their faces are almost hidden, and their clothes look stiff and exaggerated. The whole scene feels off-kilter, like something out of a dream or a nightmare. If you like this strange, distorted style, check out chiaroscuro next—it’s a technique using strong light and dark contrasts.
A black-and-white photograph of Fortunato Depero’s *The Dance of the Assassinated* is mounted on a green card, part of a collection bequeathed by art historian and librarian William Kineton Parkes in 1938. The image was among numerous photographs sent to Parkes by sculptors in the 1920s in response to his questionnaires on sculpture, now preserved in the Archive of Art and Design.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Fortunato Depero (30 March 1892 – 29 November 1960) was an Italian futurist painter, writer, sculptor, and graphic designer.
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