(Cortona/Arezzo 1883–1966 Paris)
Maschere della Commedia dell’Arte, 1922, signed G. Severini, pencil and red crayon on paper, 35 x 25 cm, framed

Photo certificate:
Romana Severini Brunori, number 02, dated Rome 9/3/2017

Provenance:
They heirs of the Artist; whence acquired by the present owner c. 1989;
Private Collection, Italy

In the immediate afterwar period, while the Italian Futurists Balla, Depero and Prampolini relaunched the concept of the total work of art, Severini, who had already left the movement, accepted the commission to decorate the “Sala delle Maschere”, or Hall of Masks, of Montegufoni castle, property of the English Sitwell family, with fresco paintings. The owners suggested an Italian theme they were very fond of: the masks of the Commedia dell’Arte. Severini welcomed this, seizing the opportunity to put into practice the body of theoretical considerations on painting that he was elaborating upon at that time for the book “Du Cubisme au Classicisme”, which would be published shortly thereafter.
The frescos of Montegufoni therefore constitute a foretaste of the trend that would be designated as a return to order, and is extended into the sphere of mural painting, through which Severini establishes a perfect balance between the virtual spatiality of the paintings and the real space of the physical environment.