Purism
Started: 1918
Ended: 1925
KEY ARTISTS
 | Le Corbusier Quick View  Artist Page |
| Le Corbusier |  |
| Le Corbusier was a twentieth-century Swiss-French architect, urban planner, designer, writer and painter. Le Corbusier was a pioneer in modern architecture and his priciples were integral to the hugely popular International Style of architecture. Art Story: Le Corbusier Artist Page | ||
 | Juan Gris Quick View Artist Page |
| Juan Gris | |
| Juan Gris was a Spanish painter and sculptor, and one of the few pioneers of Cubism. Along with Matisse, Léger, Braque and Picasso, Gris was among the elite visual artists working in early-twentieth-century France. Art Story: Juan Gris Artist Page | ||
 | Fernand Léger Quick View Artist Page |
| Fernand Léger | |
| Influenced by Cubism and Futurism, the French painter Fernand Léger developed a unique style of Cubism using cylindrical and other geometric forms with mechanically smooth edges. Often colorful and punctuated by patterns, his paintings range from still lifes and figures to abstract compositions. Art Story: Fernand Léger Artist Page | ||
 | Amédée Ozenfant Quick View Further External Info  |
| Amédée Ozenfant | |
| Ozenfant was a French painter and writer, who is widely regarded for his innovative approaches to Cubism. Along with Le Corbusier, Ozenfant founded the Purist movement, a Cubist style that stressed mathematical, geometric order over decorative, painterly elements. Further External Info | ||
"Art is the demonstration that the ordinary is extraordinary."
Summary of Purism
A decade after Cubism rocked the art world with its deconstruction of subject matter into simple geometric shapes and interlocking planes, Edouard Jeanneret (known as the modern architect Le Corbusier) and Amédée Ozenfant tweaked its lexicon for use in French painting and architecture. They coined this fresh variant Purism, which at its most basic function, proposed a new kind of art in which objects were represented as powerful forms devoid of any extraneous detail. They published this stripped down theory in their 1918 book Après le Cubisme (After Cubism). As the movement formally developed in the period following World War I, it is also viewed as part of Interwar Classicism, a movement that emphasized classical principles as a "return to order" of social and cultural forces.
Key Ideas
Le Corbusier, the founding father of Purism, is a contentious figure. He has been presented as both a "fascist-leaning ideologue whose plans for garden cities were inspired by totalitarian ideals, and a humanist who wanted to improve people's living conditions". Nevertheless, the art and architecture he created alongside Amédée Ozenfant was revolutionary.
Important Art and Artists of Purism | |
  | Still Life (1920)Artist: Le Corbusier Artwork description & Analysis: This relatively early Purist work shows a number of objet types, including a string instrument, two bottles, a stack of white plates, and a funnel, arranged in an orderly composition to emphasize the solidity of the elementary forms. These objects, taken from the kitchen, the living room, and the building fixtures, are depicted without any extraneous detail to create a modern aesthetic that reflects both functionality and a rational environment. The architectonic influence is apparent in the columnar neck of the instrument and the arrangement of the plates, as the top plate, its white oval turned toward the viewer, resembles an industrial duct, an effect enhanced by the tubing in the lower center. As a result, the painting is unified by its architectural structure, as the background rectangles of walls and window are echoed by the plane of the foreground and the serene volume of a building block in the lower center of the canvas. The painting embodies what art historian Kenneth Frampton has called Purism's "iconic ethos." The objects become dignified, even stately, conveying the artist's view that the mass productions of the modern world were aesthetically beautiful. Oil on canvas - Museum of Modern Art, New York |
 | Bottle and Fruit Bowl (1920)Artist: Juan Gris Artwork description & Analysis: This still life shows a number of objects, including a bottle, a glass, and a fruit bowl situated on a pedestal, arranged on the intersecting geometric planes of a table. Hues reflect the color palette of Synthetic Cubism with warm tones of red, yellow, and brown contrasting with cooler greens and blues. Employed in broad areas that are delineated as if they were cut outs, the color fields create a bold graphic effect that also suggests collage. Relationships between geometric angles and shapes take center stage, further emphasized by color. The vibrant interaction between the objects reflects the café as a locus of social interaction. Oil on canvas - Kunstmuseum, Winterthur, Germany |
 | Nature morte (Still Life) (1920-21)Artist: Amédée Ozenfant Artwork description & Analysis: This painting, emphasizing a few objects, a guitar's body, a musical instrument's neck, and three bottles against a background of grey, white, and nearly-black planes, reflects Purism's emphasis on the solidity and simplicity of formal elements. Unlike traditional still life, which often included plants, flowers, and organic forms, this work focuses on an entirely manufactured environment. The dark bottle and light glass in the foreground are shown in profile while their openings are shown from above, a Cubistic treatment transformed into Purism's emphasis on geometry in the repeating circles. Oil on canvas - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco |
More Purism Artwork and Analysis:
Content compiled and written by Rebecca Seiferle
Edited and revised, with Synopsis and Key Ideas added by Kimberly Nichols
" Movement Overview and Analysis". [Internet]. . TheArtStory.org
Content compiled and written by Rebecca Seiferle
Edited and revised, with Synopsis and Key Ideas added by Kimberly Nichols
Available from:
First published on 25 Apr 2019. Updated and modified regularly. 
[Accessed ]
