Curator, Anne Umland: When I first look at this work, it feels a little bit like what you might experience if you walk into a very crowded, noisy room. It was inspired by a very popular Paris nightclub that would have been filled with chatter and music and dancers and performers.
Part of the fun of this picture is that no matter where you look, there are these fun details to discover. At upper left, in script, I can make out the word “bowling.” Just below it, you can see the letters P-O and then you’ll see L-K-A, and if you say those two syllables out loud, you’ll get “polka,” the popular dance.
Then if I let my eye travel down a little bit to all those kind of purpley-pinky flounces, I can see that Severini glued actual sequins to this work, which just is a wonderful way of making it sparkle.
There are just so many amazing things here. It would be really fun if you decided to stand in front of this picture for about a minute and try to list how many different things you notice.