Gino Severini's first solo exhibition took place in London's Marlborough Gallery in 1913. Its reception ranged from adulation among the cognoscenti to bewildered reactions from the popular press. Though his paintings were shown in the context of Futurist group exhibitions or thematic shows of twentieth-century Italian art, there was never a museum exhibition in Britain devoted solely to his work. "Gino Severini: From Futurism to Classicism," part of the National Touring Exhibitions program of the Hayward Gallery, aims to redress this situation. The exhibition and the lavishly illustrated book that accompanies it bring into focus the essence of Gino Severini's highly distinctive talent, and the contribution he has made to modern art. "Gino Severini" concentrates on the most significant decade of the artist's career: the years from 1910 until 1920. It follows the development of his art from his Futurist works of the early 1910s, with their rejection of the past and their emphasis on dynamism and the modern world, to his adoption of a Synthetic Cubist style during the war years and finally to the timeless and mathematically composed still lifes and figures he painted from 1919 onwards.
Reflected in a broad range of contemporary themes from war to dancers, Severini's stance during a decade of political and artistic upheaval--made especially distinctive by the move from his native Italy to Paris--is exceptional. His development is a fascinating parallel to the directions taken by his Paris contemporaries including Picasso, Gris and Metzinger. This fully-illustrated book includes insightful essays by Simonetta Fraquelli, curator, and Christopher Green, History of Art Professor at the Courtauld Institute of Art.