The Accordion Player 1919

Gino Severini's painting, 'The Accordion Player,' is a Cubist symphony of sharp angles and muted tones. I imagine Severini juggling perspectives, shifting planes like an accordion’s bellows, trying to capture the essence of the instrument and its player. I wonder what Severini was thinking as he put the painting together. What did he want to preserve on canvas? There is a clear dialogue happening in the painting, between formal, geometric blocks of color and texture, and the sinuous white lines which hint at a frilled collar, or the keys of an accordion. The planes of color are like musical notes and the painting becomes a visual echo of music. The accordion player is not just a subject, but a puzzle, pieced together from fragments of reality and imagination, a style seen in the work of Picasso and Braque. Ultimately, Severini offers not a portrait, but an experience – the visual equivalent of the soulful sound of an accordion, stretching and compressing our perceptions.