Originally from Cortona, Gino Severini arrived in Rome at a very young age. In 1900 he met Giacomo Balla, who introduced him to pointillist painting. Severini delved deeper into this style during his stay in Paris from 1906, as show his works Bois de Boulogne (1907) e Primavera a Montmartre (1909). During his time in the French capital, Severini crossed paths with prominent intellectuals of the era, alongside colleague like Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris, Paul Signac, Amedeo Modigliani, and Guillaume Apollinaire, among others.
Even during his time in Paris, Severini maintained ties with Italy. In 1909, he was one of the signatories of the Manifesto of Futurism penned by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, and the subsequent year he joined Balla, Boccioni, Carrà, and Russolo in signing the Manifesto of the Futurist Painters. In 1912 he convinced Umberto Boccioni and Carlo Carrà to join him in Paris, where the movement’s first exhibition was organized at the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery. Subsequent Futurist showcases held across Europe and America prominently featured his work.
The year 1913 marked his debut solo exhibition at the Marlborough Gallery in London, later replicated at the Der Sturm Gallery in Berlin. Throughout this period, Severini’s artistic endeavors were not only shaped by his affiliation with Futurism but also by Cubism and emerging cultural motifs, notably the cabaret scene, which had gained traction as a new classic, particularly in France, as demonstrated by La danza del pan pan al Monico (1911), il Geroglifico dinamico del bal tabarin (1912), Ballerina blu (1912), La chahuteuse (1912), Le restaurant a Montmartre (1913), Primavera a Montmartre (1913) e Natura morta col giornale Lacerba (1913).
Between October 1917 and August 1918, he published a series of articles entitled La Peinture d’avant-garde at De Stijl, a Dutch magazine dedicated to Neoplasticism. By 1921, following the aftermath of World War I, Severini’s artistic direction underwent a noticeable shift. Whereas before the conflict, he navigated between Futurism and Cubism, afterward, his focus shifted towards a more subdued, Metaphysical, and Neoclassical style, as evidenced by his treatise published that same year: Du cubisme au classicisme. This transition towards a quieter representational approach, departing from the frenetic energy of Futurism, often termed as a Return to Order, intrigued Severini as much as it did his contemporaries like Picasso and De Chirico. The latter had initially discussed this concept in 1919 in the journal Valori Plastici.
In the decade 1924-1934, Severini underwent a religious crisis that drove his interested almost exclusively in sacred art. He dedicated himself to frescoes and mosaics such as those made for the Swiss churches of Semsales (Fribourg, 1924-1926) and La Roche or as I Dieci Comandamenti for the Palace of Justice in Milan, or the decorative cycles of the Montefugoni Castle (Florence, 1922), for the Triennale building in Milan (1933), for the University of Padua and the Mussolini Forum in Rome (1937).
In 1923, Severini was present at the Rome Biennale, while in 1926 and 1929 he was included in the Milan and Geneva exhibitions of the Novecento art movement. His inaugural admission to the Venice Biennale occurred in 1930, followed by participations in the Roman Quadriennale in 1931 and 1935. It was during the latter event that Severini achieved notable recognition, with a dedicated room showcasing 36 distinct works, leading to his triumph in winning the Prize for Painting. In 1935, he relocated to Rome, punctuated by occasional residencies in Paris, where he notably contributed a significant decorative ensemble for the Universal Exposition. Continuously straddling between Italy and France, Severini’s mosaic creations gained exposure at the Comet Gallery in 1938.
The conclusion of World War II reignited Severini’s interest in the themes of the Futurist era and the geometric abstractions inspired by Cubism. In the spring of 1947, he participated in an exhibition in Paris organized by his friend Guido Seborga at Gildo Caputo’s Billiet gallery. Between 1949 and 1950, Severini became involved in the Verzocchi Collection project, initiated by entrepreneur Giuseppe Verzocchi, aimed at fostering a connection—arguably one of the earliest attempts of its kind—between contemporary art and industry. The project entailed the creation of a collection of paintings, now housed at the Pinacoteca Civica in Forlì, focusing on themes of labor and self-portraiture within a predetermined size. Numerous painters, including De Chirico, Guttuso, Casorati, Carrà, and Vedova, alongside Severini, embraced the project. Severini presented a self-portrait, as well as the work Simboli del lavoro. He gradually shifted his focus towards critical nonfiction and autobiographical works. He wrote: Independent art, bourgeois art, social art (1944), The whole life of a painter (1946), Témoignages – 50 ans de réflexion (1963) and Temps de l’effort moderne, La vita di un pittore (posthumous, 1968). He moved to Paris, where he died in 1966.