Self-portrait 1912

Gino Severini made this cubist self-portrait with oil on canvas. The painting shatters a conventional image, breaking down the face into geometric forms, which is a lot like my own painting process, taking something whole and upending it. Look at how Severini uses the brushstrokes, like individual tiles to build the composition. The face is constructed from these planes of color, moving from the light pinks and yellows of the skin to the blues and blacks of the suit. The texture isn't smooth, but rather built up, giving the surface a kind of tactile quality. It feels like you could reach out and touch the little squares that form his face. The cigarette dangling from his lips is a playful touch, a nod to the artist's persona. And you can see echoes of Picasso and Braque, but Severini brings a uniquely Italian sensibility to the canvas, a sense of dynamism and energy. Art's a dialogue, right? It is a conversation between artists across time.