A leader of Italian Futurism, Severini was living in Paris in 1912 when Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso began to paste pieces of cut paper onto their Cubist drawings. Inspired by such innovative papiers collés, Severini incorporated newspaper clippings into this work made a few years later. Severini’s Still Life, however, portrays a decidedly Futurist interest in dynamism and speed: the diagonal, vertical, and rotational lines and strong shading suggest energetic motion within fractured space. Likewise, the newspaper fragments reveal a Futurist sensibility, referencing French military actions, weaponry, and Italy’s then-neutrality in World War I.
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Inscription: Written on verso (top center, in graphite): 3 / Nature morte / Bouteille + vase + journal + table) / Gino Severini
the artist (until 1917; shipped in October 1916 to New York, valued at Fr 150; left on June 22, 1917 with Stieglitz); Alfred Stieglitz, New York (1917–d. 1946; his estate, 1946–49; gift to MMA)
Galerie Boutet de Monvel, Paris. "Gino Severini: Première exposition futuriste d'art plastique de la guerre et d'autres oeuvres antérieures," January 15–February 1, 1916, no. 28 (as "Soldat=Vase") [probably this work].
New York. 291. "Paintings, Drawings, Pastels by Gino Severini," March 6–17, 1917, no catalogue (checklist no. 17; the artist's handwritten list as drawing no. 3).
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Representative Modern Masters," April 17–May 9, 1920, no. 240 [probably this work].
New York. An American Place. "Beginnings and Landmarks: "291," 1905–1917," October 27–December 27, 1937, no. 67.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Alfred Stieglitz Exhibition: His Collection," June 10–August 31, 1947, no catalogue (checklist no. 104).
Art Institute of Chicago. "Alfred Stieglitz: His Photographs and His Collection," February 2–29, 1948, no catalogue (checklist no. 47.109).
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "From the Alfred Stieglitz Collection: An Extended Loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 22–August 12, 1951, no catalogue (checklist no. E.L.51.702; loan extended to June 9, 1958).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings from the Alfred Stieglitz Collection," September 9–November 12, 1967, no catalogue (unnumbered checklist).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Cubist Epoch," December 15, 1970–February 21, 1971, no. 303.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Cubist Epoch," April 9–June 7, 1971, no. 303.
Palazzi Casali, Cortona. "Gino Severini: Prima e dopo l'opera. Documenti, opera ed immagini," November 12, 1983–January 22, 1984, unnumbered cat. (p. 34).
New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "Severini futurista, 1912–1917," October 18, 1995–January 7, 1996, no. 27.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Stieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe," October 13, 2011–January 2, 2012, no. 35.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "World War I and the Visual Arts," July 31, 2017–January 7, 2018 (MMA Bulletin, Fall 2017, fig. 9).
Florence N. Levy. "Modern Masters at the Pennsylvania Academy." International Studio 71 (August 1920), p. XXXIII.
Jacob Bean. 100 European Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, [1964?], unpaginated, no. 50, ill.
George Heard Hamilton. "The Alfred Stieglitz Collection." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), pp. 382–83, fig. 11.
Joan M. Lukach. "Severini's 1917 Exhibition at Stieglitz's '291'." Burlington Magazine (April 1971), p. 196 n. 4, p. 200 n. 28, pp. 201, 206, fig. 38.
Donald E. Gordon. Modern Art Exhibitions, 1900–1916: Selected Catalogue Documentation. Vol. 2, Munich, 1974, p. 886.
Joan M. Lucach [sic]. "Severini's Writings and Paintings, 1916-1917, and His Exhibition in New Jork [sic] City." Critica d'arte (November-December 1974), pp. 75, 80 n. 40.
Daniela Fonti. Gino Severini: Catalogo ragionato. Milan, 1988, p. 200, no. 240, ill.
Christine Poggi. In Defiance of Painting: Cubism, Futurism, and the Invention of Collage. New Haven, 1992, pp. 175–77, fig. 106.
Brandon Taylor. Collage: The Making of Modern Art. New York, 2004, pp. 20, 220, fig. 14.
Ester Coen. Illuminazioni. Avanguardie a confronto: Italia, Germania, Russia. Exh. cat., Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto. Milan, 2009, pp. 399–400, 509, ill.
Lisa Mintz Messinger inStieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Lisa Mintz Messinger. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2011, pp. 70, 252, no. 35, ill. (color).
Rachel Mustalish inStieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe. The Alfred Stieglitz Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Lisa Mintz Messinger. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2011, p. 70.
Jennifer Farrell. "World War I and the Visual Arts." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 75 (Fall 2017), pp. 9, 11, fig. 9 (color).
Managing Editor Michael Cirigliano takes a tour of World War I and the Visual Arts with Associate Curator Jennifer Farrell to discuss the wide range of artists and artistic approaches represented in the exhibition.
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