SEVERINI, Gino

Gino Severini was born April 7, 1883 and was an Italian painter and a leading member of the Italian Futurist movement. At an early stage in his artwork, he was exposed to Impressionist ideas. His work was influenced by Cubism and in 1921 he published a book, Du Cubisme au Classicisme. Severini helped organize the first Futurist exhibition at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, in February 1912, and participated in subsequent Futurist shows in Europe and the United States. In 1913, he had solo exhibitions at the Marlborough Gallery, London, and Der Sturm, Berlin. During the Futurist period, Severini acted as an important link between artists in France and Italy. After his last truly Futurist works — a series of paintings on war themes — Severini painted in a Synthetic Cubist mode, and by 1920 he was applying theories of classical balance based on the Golden Section to figurative subjects from the traditional commedia dell’arte. He divided his time between Paris and Rome after 1920. He explored fresco and mosaic techniques and executed murals in various mediums in Switzerland, France, and Italy during the 1920s. In the 1950s, he returned to the subjects of his Futurist years: dancers, light, and movement. Throughout his career, Severini published important theoretical essays and books on art. He died on February 26, 1966 in Paris.

Nature Morte - 1958