Gino Severini Suburban Train Arriving in Paris 1915

In its attempt to display motion and to embrace the world of machinery, Gino Severini's painting, Suburban Train Arriving in Paris, 1915, is typical of the Futurist movement. For Severini, the depiction of motion is not an academic pursuit. Unlike the Cubists from whom Severini borrowed fractured planes, he saw motion, especially mechanical motion, as marking a new and exciting social and historical phase. Suburban Train Arriving in Paris marks the last phase of Futurism, when the movement's focus shifted from aesthetics to politics. Like other Futurists, Severini supported Italy entering the War in 1915. Far from being a critique of war, Suburban Train, which was inspired by trains arriving from and returning to the front line, displays a humanised, dynamic vision of the activities surrounding combat

Gino Severini Suburban Train Arriving In Paris 1915
© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2002