Purism (art direction)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Purism is a style of modern art and architecture of the 20th century. It was founded in 1918 with the “Après le cubisme” manifesto by Charles-Edouart Jeanneret (Le Corbusier) and Amédée Ozenfant and is characterized by clear geometric shapes, a limited choice of colors and a selection of a few everyday objects as subject matter.

origin

The pamphlet Apres le Cubisme (After Cubism ) from 1918, which is also regarded as the manifesto of purism, marks its beginning. In Apres le Cubisme , Le Corbusier and Ozenfant criticize the current currents of synthetic and orphic cubism as being too decorative and ornamental. A revised manifesto of purism appeared in 1921 under the title "Purism" in the magazine L'Esprit Nouveau .

Properties of purism

The puristic painting is characterized by the following properties:

  • strict, clear forms
  • simple everyday objects as central motifs
  • limited repertoire of subjects such as B. bottles, laboratory glasses, wine glasses or a guitar
  • Demand for a restriction of the color selection to earth tones, ocher yellow, red, white, black and ultramarine blue , rejection of dynamic colors such as lemon yellow, orange, light cobalt blue, madder red or emerald green

For the purists, the still life is the main motif of their pictures. The aim is to reveal the geometric structure of nature through the painter.

The purists also showed a great interest in machines and their aesthetics. The artist should learn his lesson from machines and apply the principle of machine repetition in art production. On a rational basis, simple geometric shapes with machine precision should be used. The purists valued the golden ratio as the ideal proportion. They rejected purely decorative elements. Le Corbusier also had the "Modulor", a proportion theory based on the golden ratio, patented.

Painter of purism

The style of purism was a small current whose main representatives were Le Corbusier and Ozenfant. In addition, there were a number of painters who were close to or influenced by purism:

Exhibitions and publications

The first purist exhibition with pictures by Ozenfant and Le Corbusier took place in December 1918 at Galerie Thomas. The second exhibition followed in January 1921 at Galerie Druet.

The most famous work of purism exhibited was Le Corbusier's Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau in 1925 for the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs . The architecture of the pavilion, its interior design, the pictures, sculptures, furniture and decorative objects illustrated the aesthetics of purism.

The main mouthpiece of purism was the magazine L'Esprit Nouveau , founded by Ozenfant and Le Corbusier in 1919 , with which they tried to spread their idea of ​​the new art direction.

criticism

In particular, Le Corbusier's view of architecture and urban planning has been criticized. From today's perspective, it is no longer understandable that he called for the inner cities of most European cities to be torn down and replaced with rational, geometric and symmetrical urban planning. In his plan for Paris in “The Radiant City”, he suggested tearing down the entire right bank of the Seine from Boulevard Haussmann to the Louvre and replacing it with residential silos with gigantic streets in between.

End of purism and influence on later painting

Purism in the narrower sense ended in 1925 when Le Corbusier and Ozenfant ended their collaboration. In contrast, it was only after 1930 that one could no longer speak of purism in the broader sense, when Le Corbusier and Ozenfant turned exclusively to other themes and styles.

Even if purism finally ended as a style in 1930, it also exerted its influence on later art movements, e.g. For example, on the Pop Art painters of the 1960s, who, like the purists, drew their inspiration from mass-produced everyday objects. The purists' machine aesthetics also influenced architecture, especially that of Le Corbusier, as well as commercial and applied arts.

literature

  • Susan L. Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 .
  • Carol S. Eliel, Francoise Ducros, Tag Gronberg: L'Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris 1918-1925 . Los Angeles County Museum of Art in association with Harry N. Abrams, 2001, ISBN 978-0810967274 .
  • Stanislaus von Moos: The purism and the painting Le Corbusier . In: Das Werk: Architektur und Kunst / L'oeuvre: architecture et art . Volume 53, No. 10, 1966, pp. 413-415.
  • Après le Cubisme , Le Corbusier and Amedée Ozenfant, German translation (After Cubism) by Hartmut Mayer. Essay by Hartmut Mayer. Edition Staub in the script publishing house, Neuss 2018 ISBN 978-3-928249-78-2

Web links

https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/amedee-ozenfant

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Von Moos, Stanislaus: The purism and the painting of Le Corbusier . In: Das Werk: Architektur und Kunst / L'oeuvre: architecture et art . tape 53 , no. 10 , 1966, pp. 413-415 , doi : 10.5169 / seals-41272 .
  2. ↑ Susan Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 35, 41 .
  3. ↑ Susan L. Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 38 .
  4. ↑ Susan Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 80 .
  5. ↑ Susan Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 74, 92 .
  6. ^ Stanislaus von Moos: The purism and the painting Le Corbusier . In: Das Werk: Architektur und Kunst / L'oeuvre: architecture et art . tape 53 , no. 10 , 1966, pp. 415 .
  7. ↑ Susan Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 81 .
  8. ^ Carol S. Eliel, Francoise Ducros, Tag Gronberg: L'Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris 1918-1925 . Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Harry N. Abrams, Los Angeles 2001, ISBN 978-0-8109-6727-4 , pp. 55 .
  9. ↑ Susan Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 73 .
  10. ^ Carol S. Eliel, Francoise Ducros, Tag Gronberg: L'Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris 1918-1925 . Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Harry N. Abrams, Los Angeles 2001, ISBN 978-0-8109-6727-4 , pp. 25 .
  11. ↑ Susan Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 39, 40 .
  12. ↑ Susan Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 119-120 .
  13. ^ Carol S. Eliel, Francoise Ducros, Tag Gronberg: L'Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris 1918-1925 . Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Harry N. Abrams, Los Angeles 2001, ISBN 978-0-8109-6727-4 , pp. 21, 23, 46 .
  14. ^ Carol S. Eliel, Francoise Ducros, Tag Gronberg: L'Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris 1918-1925 . Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Harry N. Abrams, Los Angeles 2001, ISBN 978-0-8109-6727-4 , pp. 25 .
  15. ↑ 3sat.online: The Art of Purism - Le Corbusier died 50 years ago. Retrieved October 12, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Susan Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 171-172 .
  17. ↑ Susan Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 41, 72 .
  18. ^ Carol S. Eliel, Francoise Ducros, Tag Gronberg: L'Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris 1918-1925 . Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Harry N. Abrams, Los Angeles 2001, ISBN 978-0-8109-6727-4 , pp. 103 .
  19. ↑ 3sat.online: The Art of Purism - Le Corbusier died 50 years ago. Retrieved October 12, 2017 .
  20. ^ Carol S. Eliel, Francoise Ducros, Tag Gronberg: L'Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris 1918-1925 . Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Harry N. Abrams, Los Angeles 2001, ISBN 978-0-8109-6727-4 , pp. 48 .
  21. ^ Theodore Dalrymple: Le Corbusier's buildings - worse than bombing . In: Die Welt , October 16, 2011, accessed November 2, 2017.
  22. ^ Carol S. Eliel, Francoise Ducros, Tag Gronberg: L'Esprit Nouveau: Purism in Paris 1918-1925 . Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Harry N. Abrams, Los Angeles 2001, ISBN 978-0-8109-6727-4 , pp. 64 .
  23. ↑ Susan Ball: Ozenfant and Purism. The Evolution of a Style 1915-1930 . UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981, ISBN 0-8357-1235-4 , pp. 172-173 .