Artwork
Workmen with hammers
Workmen with hammers is a photographic photography by Fortunato Depero. It dates from 1936 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
Fortunato Depero’s black‑and‑white photograph, presented on a green card, captures two stylised figures each clutching a hammer. The composition is stark, with the subjects rendered in simplified geometric forms that emphasize blocky volumes and flat planes, giving the image a sculptural quality despite its photographic medium.
Subject & Meaning
The work portrays two laborers, their bodies reduced to angular shapes that suggest both human and mechanical presence. By focusing on the hammer—a tool associated with construction and industry—the image reflects themes of work, mechanisation, and the intersection of the human form with industrial processes.
Technique & Style
Depero employs a high‑contrast monochrome palette, accentuating the silhouettes of the figures against a plain background. The figures are composed of stacked rectangles and sharp edges, creating a sense of rigidity reminiscent of Constructivist design. The hammers themselves are rendered with exaggerated, thick handles and minimal heads, reinforcing the industrial aesthetic.
History & Provenance
The photograph was sent to the art historian and librarian William Kineton Parkes during a 1920s survey of contemporary sculptors. It entered Parkes’s personal collection and, upon his death in 1938, was bequeathed to the institution that now holds it, forming part of the legacy of his documented acquisitions.
Context
Created in the interwar period, the image aligns with Depero’s broader engagement with Futurist and Constructivist ideas, which celebrated modernity, machinery, and the dynamism of labor. The work’s geometric abstraction mirrors contemporary artistic explorations that sought to translate industrial forms into visual art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Fortunato Depero (30 March 1892 – 29 November 1960) was an Italian futurist painter, writer, sculptor, and graphic designer.
