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Gino Severini
Description
- Gino Severini
- La Terrasse d'un café de Montmartre
- Signed G. Severini (lower right); signed Gino Severini and inscribed Le déjeuner à la terrasse on the reverse
- Oil on canvas
- 18 1/4 by 21 5/8 in.
- 46.3 by 55.3 cm
Provenance
Mrs. Van Blaaderen-Hoogendijk, Amsterdam
Acquired by the present owner's family prior to 1939
Exhibited
Venice, XVII Biennale Internationale d'Arte, 1930, no. 98
Paris, Galerie Jacques Bonjean, Gino Severini - Exposition retrospective, 1931, no. 3
Amsterdam, Kunsthandel Huinck & Scherjon, Gino Severini - Exposition retrospective, 1931, no. 8
Haarlem-De Hallen, Moderne Italiaane Kunst uit Nederlands particulier en museaal bezit, 1969, no. 170
Literature
Daniela Fonti, Gino Severini. Catalogo ragionato, Milan, 1988, no. 148, illustrated p. 151
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
These words, written in the same year this work was painted, help us to understand the artist’s complex and nuanced intentions. Although Futurist painting may often be associated with images of war, and of hurtling trains packed full of ammunition, the group was just as much concerned with the pulse of the modern urbanized city. Here, Severini does not merely celebrate the obvious dynamism of a train or a car, but the more intangible dynamism and buzz of Montmartre. Ordinarily stable elements are catapulted into action, and imbued with the city’s vitality. Forms are flattened and piled on top of each other to create a looming atmosphere where the background is given just as much importance as the foreground.