Born 1883 in Cortona, died 1966 in Paris. Severini also wrote theoretical studies on modern art and was active in the Futurist movement when he was young; he lived the greater part of his life in Paris, where his friends included the painters Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Georges Braque, Maurice Utrillo, Raoul Dufy, Juan Gris, the author and painter Max Jacob and the poet and playwright Paul Fort. His style is characterised by a rigorous quest for formal expression at different stages of his development (in his cubist, classicistic and finally abstract phases). Severini had a great decorative talent and also painted frescoes and made mosaics, for example in several churches in Switzerland.
Lit.: Daniela Fonti: Gino Severini: Catalogo regionato, Milano 1988; Novecento/1, Vol. I-II, Milano 1992 (biogr. Giovanna Uzzani); Novecento/2, Vol. I-II, Milano 1993 (biogr. Giovanna Uzzani); Disegno italiano del Novecento, Milano 1993.