Chapter 3
In: Sport and the European Avant-Garde (1900-1945)
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Abstract
An indisputable aspect of England’s contribution to the history of modernity is the codifying and organising of sports. Yet, rather than encouraging artistic interest in sport as subject matter, the formal development of sport in England may have served as a deterrent to artists of the early twentieth century, especially those of the avant-garde. This chapter examines this likelihood via reference to the Vorticist movement, in particular the views of Percy Wyndham Lewis, Vorticism’s main spokesperson. The manifesto BLAST, which attacks sport, is contrasted with the manifestos associated with Italian Futurism, in which sport is praised. The idea that Lewis wrote critically of sport to distance Vorticism from the pro-sport Futurism of F.T. Marinetti is considered, as is the possibility of Lewis holding a genuine dislike of sporting culture in England. Sport related artworks by English painters associated with Vorticism and Futurism (David Bomberg, C.R.W. Nevinson and William Roberts) are discussed in the chapter.