Riot in the Gallery

Riot in the Gallery is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian painter Umberto Boccioni, one of the main figures of the futurist movement.

According to Vivien Greene (2014), "Riot in the Galleria depicts frenzied spectators around a shocking fight between two women—thought to be prostitutes—in Milan’s famous indoor mall, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

For Christine Poggi (2002) the movement of the two women generates, for the one hand, an entrapment of those who are near them, and for the other, a stampede that's trying to reach the center to watch the fight.

The location of the fight is a shopping mall, a site that represents consumption and entertainment.

Even though Boccioni's artwork follows the futurism style, according to Charles Saatchi (2017), a subtle influence of pointillism can be seen in this painting.