Gino Severini- Red Cross Train Passing a Village, 1915
Philosophers and aestheticians may offer elegant and profound definitions of art and beauty, but for the painter they are all summed up in this phrase: To create a harmony.
–Gino Severini (1883-1966)
I am always a little hesitant to feature Italian Futurists such as Gino Severini or Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who authored the Manifesto of Futurism which was a rejection of the past and celebrated the speed, machinery, violence, youth and industry of modernity. It was a document that caused the movement to be forever associated with the growth of Fascism in Italy.
And, as we all know, fascism can be a touchy subject. Then and now.
But let’s put that aside for the moment and focus on Severini’s words above. It very much reflects my own feelings on creating a work. For me, the artist’s purpose is to create or find the harmony and rhythm of their subject.
I think any effective piece of art demonstrates this. I could be wrong, of course, but it works for me.
Let’s just leave it at that this morning and look at some of Severini’s work.
Gino Severini– Le Boulevard 1910
Gino Severini– The-Pan-Pan at the Monico, 1959
Gino Severini- The north-south, 1912
Gino_Severini, Dynamic Hieroglyphic of the Bal Tabarin, 1912
Gino Severini- Train f the Wounded, 1913
Gino Severini- Synthesis of the Idea: War, 1914
Gino Severini- Armored Train in Action, 1915
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