<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>My dissertation studies the intersection of popular entertainment and the visual arts in Paris during the first decades of the twentieth century and the dialogue that formed between this subculture and the avant-garde factions of Paris and Italy. While this project will focus on the Italian Futurist Gino Severini (1883-1966), it is not conceived of as a monograph. Instead I will use Severini as a case study to help make sense of a complicated world in which the boundaries between bohemia and the bourgeoisie, masculinity and femininity, and art and popular culture are transgressed and blurred. Severini is particularly well suited to this discussion because nearly all of the 170 paintings, sketches, and pastels that he produced between the time that he arrived in Paris and the outbreak of the First World War take as their subject a prime example of Parisian popular culture--Montmartre's dance-halls. My study will address how form and content interrelate in these works, analyzing the ongoing evolution of his style and the manner in which he developed his imagery to cater to both commercial and avant-garde audiences. It will also seek to make sense of the reception of Severini's work both in France and elsewhere. In order to make sense of his artistic career and to divine the importance of his life and work to the greater political and cultural environment of early twentieth-century Europe, I will also explore Severini's actual participation in dance-hall culture, his self-fashioning as a dandy and a foreigner, and his attempt to find a niche for himself in Paris while still maintaining a foothold in the Italian avant-garde. Gino Severini's unique posturing within the culture of Bohemian Paris and the rich visual record that he left behind provide a perfect platform from which to deepen our understanding of the multitude of factors influencing the Parisian avant-garde and its subsequent impact on avant-gardes throughout the rest of the Western world.</p> / Dissertation

Esta pesquisa de mestrado tem por objetivo o estudo das quatro obras do pintor italiano Gino Severini (Cortona, 1883 Paris, 1966) pertencentes ao acervo do Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC USP), que são: Natura Morta con Piccioni [Natureza-morta com pombas], c. 1938; Figura con Pagina di Musica [Figura com página de música], c. 1942; Fiori e Libri [Flores e livros], c. 1942; e La Femme et Larlequin [A mulher e o arlequim], 1946. A partir da análise dessas pinturas, discutimos a trajetória de Severini, na medida em que esclarece tanto o contexto em que estava operando quando as produziu, quanto o histórico de sua formação como artista. Feitas essas reflexões, apresentamos o caminho que essas obras percorreram da Itália para a primeira coleção italiana do antigo Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM SP) de onde as quatro obras de Severini provêm , bem como a recepção que o artista e suas obras tiveram no ambiente artístico brasileiro entre as décadas de 1940 e 1950. O estudo pretende elucidar o porquê de justamente essas quatro obras terem sido compradas em detrimento de tantas outras do artista, e o quanto essa escolha está vinculada com o perfil maior das 67 aquisições de obras italianas para o antigo MAM SP. / The aim of this masters research is the study of the four artworks by the Italian painter, Gino Severini, (Cortona, 1883Paris, 1966), that belong to the University of São Paulos Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC USP), which are: Natura Morta con Piccioni [Still life with doves], c. 1938; Figura con Pagina di Musica [Figure with music score], c. 1942; Fiori e Libri [Flowers and books], c. 1942; and La Femme et Larlequin [Woman and harlequin], 1946. Based on the detailed analysis of such artworks, we discuss Severinis trajectory in the period, as it clarifies both the context in which he was operating when they were produced and the history of his background as an artist. That being said, we present the pathway that these artworks took from Italy to the first Italian collection of the former Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (MAM SP) where Severinis four artworks come fromas well as the reception that the artist and his artworks enjoyed in the Brazilian artistic milieu between the 1940s and 1950s. The study aims to elucidate the precise reason why these four artworks were bought instead of many others by the artist, and to what extent this choice is related to the greater profile of the acquisition of the sixty-seven Italian artworks for the former MAM SP.

Esta pesquisa de mestrado tem por objetivo o estudo das quatro obras do pintor italiano Gino Severini (Cortona, 1883 Paris, 1966) pertencentes ao acervo do Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC USP), que são: Natura Morta con Piccioni [Natureza-morta com pombas], c. 1938; Figura con Pagina di Musica [Figura com página de música], c. 1942; Fiori e Libri [Flores e livros], c. 1942; e La Femme et Larlequin [A mulher e o arlequim], 1946. A partir da análise dessas pinturas, discutimos a trajetória de Severini, na medida em que esclarece tanto o contexto em que estava operando quando as produziu, quanto o histórico de sua formação como artista. Feitas essas reflexões, apresentamos o caminho que essas obras percorreram da Itália para a primeira coleção italiana do antigo Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM SP) de onde as quatro obras de Severini provêm , bem como a recepção que o artista e suas obras tiveram no ambiente artístico brasileiro entre as décadas de 1940 e 1950. O estudo pretende elucidar o porquê de justamente essas quatro obras terem sido compradas em detrimento de tantas outras do artista, e o quanto essa escolha está vinculada com o perfil maior das 67 aquisições de obras italianas para o antigo MAM SP. / The aim of this masters research is the study of the four artworks by the Italian painter, Gino Severini, (Cortona, 1883Paris, 1966), that belong to the University of São Paulos Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC USP), which are: Natura Morta con Piccioni [Still life with doves], c. 1938; Figura con Pagina di Musica [Figure with music score], c. 1942; Fiori e Libri [Flowers and books], c. 1942; and La Femme et Larlequin [Woman and harlequin], 1946. Based on the detailed analysis of such artworks, we discuss Severinis trajectory in the period, as it clarifies both the context in which he was operating when they were produced and the history of his background as an artist. That being said, we present the pathway that these artworks took from Italy to the first Italian collection of the former Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (MAM SP) where Severinis four artworks come fromas well as the reception that the artist and his artworks enjoyed in the Brazilian artistic milieu between the 1940s and 1950s. The study aims to elucidate the precise reason why these four artworks were bought instead of many others by the artist, and to what extent this choice is related to the greater profile of the acquisition of the sixty-seven Italian artworks for the former MAM SP.