Still Life with Marsala Bottle 1917

Gino Severini made "Still Life with Marsala Bottle" with oil on canvas, though the date is unknown. It's a painting that thinks about painting as a process of collage; Severini builds up the image from blocks of colour and tone, the way you might assemble a still life from paper or card. The surfaces are so flat and uniformly matte, it's hard to tell how the piece was made. Look closely, though, and you can see tiny brushstrokes within the larger forms. The colour is muted, almost grubby. I love how he sets off the brown and grey tones against the unexpected flash of pink. Then you notice the polka dots on the bottle. It is such a small detail, but it makes the whole piece come alive. Severini was associated with the Futurists, but later he came to reject their ideas about modernity. This piece reminds me a little of Juan Gris. You can see how artists were in constant dialogue, borrowing ideas and challenging each other to see the world in new ways. I think the best art embraces ambiguity and doesn't try to give you all the answers.