Self-portrait 1912

Gino Severini made this self-portrait with oil on canvas, and like many artists, he was probably trying to capture something essential about himself. Look at the way he’s broken down his image into these geometric shapes—it's like he's not just showing us what he looks like, but also how he sees himself. He's a part of that Cubist movement, but in a way, I think this portrait is about trying to find some sense of selfhood in an era of enormous change. What was it like to try and capture that? The colors are muted, mostly blues and whites, but there's this pop of red in his tie and lips that draws you in. That cigarette hanging from his mouth—it's almost like a little flag of defiance, or maybe just a sign of the times. You know artists are always wrestling with these big ideas, trying to make sense of the world and their place in it. I wonder if he knew how many other artists he’d inspire?