Dancers 1957

Gino Severini made this painting, Dancers, out of what seems like a million tiny dots. It's not just seeing, it's feeling how the paint has been applied. You can almost feel the rhythm of the dots, like a little dance of their own. The way the colours shift from peachy pinks to cool blues and yellows gives me the sense of movement. The forms are geometric, but they still have a lively, energetic feel. Look at the centre, where the sharp black shapes slice through the softer colors. It’s a lovely contrast of chaos and order. It reminds me a bit of Sonia Delaunay's colourful experiments, that same interest in capturing movement and energy. Severini's painting isn't about perfectly capturing the dancers in reality, but more about giving you a sense of the excitement, the beat, the feeling of being there. It’s a lovely, ambiguous, energetic thing.