Boccioni’s States of Mind I: The Farewells is an abstract piece of fine art dealing with themes of the psychological dimension of modern life’s transitory nature. This singular piece is actually a series of three paintings set within the confinement of a train station. Through the piece, Boccioni sought to capture “loneliness, anguish, and dazed confusion.” The painting depicts the movement and the fusion of people swept away in waves at the train station as the train’s steam bellows into the sky.

Orozco’s The Subway is an expressionist painting depicting three rather shadowy figures riding the subway. Through this painting, he sought to capture his early New York experience and the bleak and pessimistic view he had of mankind. Orozco completed the painting within his first seven years living in the United States, and he conveyed his feelings of isolation and the grim and brutal conditions he witnessed in New York City by depicting himself in a near-empty subway car.

Both Boccioni and Orozco target the same subject matter with very different depictions. The two artists sought to capture the loneliness one felt in the dawn of the industrial revolution, when cities such as New York were becoming so crowded and no one really cared to get to know each other. They both felt the perfect setting to depict this was in the subway: a new invention widely used by New Yorkers yet kept them very divided within its confinement.

In his painting, Boccioni makes use of oblique lines, bold vivid colors, and an abstract following of form. The oblique lines in the painting hint at loneliness, anguish, and dazed confusion. They keep the viewer in the unknown, and makes them feel solitary and confused, much like the subject matter Boccioni wanted to depict. The vertical lines convey the weight of sadness carried by those left behind. The vivid colors allure the bright city lights of New York City, and add a level of profoundness to the subject matter. The very abstract shapes really do not define anything specific in the painting. In fact, the only thing in the painting that is easy to spot is an antenna tower at the top left of the painting.

With his subway cart interior, Orozco targets the same idea of loneliness within the subway, but he depicts it with more realism. This expressionist work is highlighted by dark flat colors, heavy shadowing, and long gloomy figures. The dark colors give a pessimist vibe within the train, and also serves to show the profoundness of space. The darkness makes the cart seem bigger and even more emptier. The heavy shadowing gives the painting the grim and brutal tone that Orozco hoped to capture. It seems almost like a film noir in the dark alley where the thief comes and beats the man for his wallet. The tall gloomy figure behind the man standing in the cart is almost ghostly: it seems as if someone is watching.