Morgan Russell
Encyclopedia
Morgan Russell was a U.S.
abstract
painter
. He was born and raised in New York City
in 1886. He was, along with artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright, the founder of Synchromism
an important modernist movement in early 20th century art
.
, with Lee and James Earle Fraser, (where he also posed as a model for the sculpture class). With financial help from Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
whom he met at the League
in late January 1906 he traveled to Paris to study art. In 1907 after returning to New York City he studied painting at the League
with Robert Henri
among others. Returning to Paris in 1909 he studied at Matisse
’s art school.
After meeting Stanton Macdonald-Wright in 1911, the two began developing theories about color and its relationship to pattern. With Macdonald-Wright, he co-founded the Synchromist movement
in 1912. In June of the same year he and Stanton Macdonald Wright had their first Synchromist exhibition at Der Neue Kunstsalon in Munich
, with a follow-up exhibition at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in Paris
. He began exhibiting at the Salon des Indépendants in 1913. Russell also exhibited his paintings at the famous New York Armory Show
of 1913.
Synchromism
was an early and important innovation in pure abstract painting
, which was developed primarily by Russell with contributions from Stanton Macdonald-Wright. Other American painters in Paris
experimenting with synchromism at the time included Thomas Hart Benton
, Andrew Dasburg
, and Patrick Henry Bruce
, all of whom were friends with Russell and Macdonald-Wright. Bruce was also friendly with Sonia
and Robert Delaunay
and the proponents of Orphism
, (a term coined in 1912 France
by the poet Guillaume Apollinaire
), a similar movement to Synchromism
.
After spending nearly forty years as artist in France
from 1909 until 1946, Russell retired to the United States. After suffering two strokes, he died at age 67 near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
in 1953.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. He was born and raised in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1886. He was, along with artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright, the founder of Synchromism
Synchromism
Synchromism was an art movement founded in 1912 by American artists Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Morgan Russell. Their abstract "synchromies", based on a theory of color that analogized it to music, were among the first abstract paintings in American art...
an important modernist movement in early 20th century art
20th century art
20th-century art and what it became known as — modern art — really began with modernism in the late 19th century. Nineteenth-century movements of Post Impressionism and Art Nouveau led to the first twentieth-century art movements of Fauvism in France and Die Brücke in Germany. Fauvism in Paris...
.
Biography
Initially he studied architecture and after 1903 he became friendly with the sculptor Arthur Lee for whom he posed as a model, and lived with for a while. During the period from 1903-1905 he studied sculpture at the Art Students LeagueArt Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
, with Lee and James Earle Fraser, (where he also posed as a model for the sculpture class). With financial help from Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was an American sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City...
whom he met at the League
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
in late January 1906 he traveled to Paris to study art. In 1907 after returning to New York City he studied painting at the League
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
with Robert Henri
Robert Henri
Robert Henri was an American painter and teacher. He was a leading figure of the Ashcan School in art.- Early life :...
among others. Returning to Paris in 1909 he studied at Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
’s art school.
After meeting Stanton Macdonald-Wright in 1911, the two began developing theories about color and its relationship to pattern. With Macdonald-Wright, he co-founded the Synchromist movement
Synchromism
Synchromism was an art movement founded in 1912 by American artists Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Morgan Russell. Their abstract "synchromies", based on a theory of color that analogized it to music, were among the first abstract paintings in American art...
in 1912. In June of the same year he and Stanton Macdonald Wright had their first Synchromist exhibition at Der Neue Kunstsalon in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, with a follow-up exhibition at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He began exhibiting at the Salon des Indépendants in 1913. Russell also exhibited his paintings at the famous New York Armory Show
Armory Show
Many exhibitions have been held in the vast spaces of U.S. National Guard armories, but the Armory Show refers to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art that was organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors...
of 1913.
Synchromism
Synchromism
Synchromism was an art movement founded in 1912 by American artists Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Morgan Russell. Their abstract "synchromies", based on a theory of color that analogized it to music, were among the first abstract paintings in American art...
was an early and important innovation in pure abstract painting
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
, which was developed primarily by Russell with contributions from Stanton Macdonald-Wright. Other American painters in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
experimenting with synchromism at the time included Thomas Hart Benton
Thomas Hart Benton (painter)
Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter and muralist. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, he was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, almost sculpted paintings showed everyday scenes of life in the United States...
, Andrew Dasburg
Andrew Dasburg
Andrew Michael Dasburg was an American modernist painter and "one of America's leading early exponents of cubism".-Biography:...
, and Patrick Henry Bruce
Patrick Henry Bruce
Patrick Henry Bruce was an American cubist painter.-Biography:A descendant of Patrick Henry, Bruce was born in Campbell County, Virginia, the second of four children. His family had once owned a huge plantation, Berry Hill, worked by over 3,000 slaves...
, all of whom were friends with Russell and Macdonald-Wright. Bruce was also friendly with Sonia
Sonia Delaunay
Sonia Delaunay was a Jewish-French artist who, with her husband Robert Delaunay and others, cofounded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. Her work extends to painting, textile design and stage set design...
and Robert Delaunay
Robert Delaunay
Robert Delaunay was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, cofounded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstract, reminiscent of Paul Klee...
and the proponents of Orphism
Orphism (art)
Orphism or Orphic Cubism , the term coined by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, was a little known art movement during the time of Cubism that focused on pure abstraction and bright colors influenced by Fauvism and the dye chemist Eugène Chevreul...
, (a term coined in 1912 France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
by the poet Guillaume Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire
Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki, known as Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic born in Italy to a Polish mother....
), a similar movement to Synchromism
Synchromism
Synchromism was an art movement founded in 1912 by American artists Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Morgan Russell. Their abstract "synchromies", based on a theory of color that analogized it to music, were among the first abstract paintings in American art...
.
After spending nearly forty years as artist in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
from 1909 until 1946, Russell retired to the United States. After suffering two strokes, he died at age 67 near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in 1953.
Sources
- (1999). Synchromism Morgan Russell and Stanton Macdonald-Wright", illus. (11 color), 29 pp. Hollis Taggart Galleries, NY.
External links
- The Jean Gabriel Lemoine Material Relating To Morgan Russell, 1921-1923, 1964 at the Archives of American Art is an archival collection consisting largely of letters and letter fragments written by Morgan Russell in to Jean Gabriel Lemoine, art critic for L'Echo de Paris. In these letters Russell explains his art and the Synchromism style that he developed with Stanton MacDonald-Wright.
- The Early Years, 1886-1906, Marilyn S. Kushner, Montclair Art Museum
- http://www.observer.com/node/40302Morgan Russell's Fine Art: Thank You, Michelangelo! Hilton KramerHilton KramerHilton Kramer is a U.S. art critic and cultural commentator.Kramer was educated at Syracuse University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Indiana University and the New School for Social Research. He worked as the editor of Arts Magazine, art critic for The Nation, and from 1965 to 1982,...
, the New York ObserverNew York ObserverThe New York Observer is a weekly newspaper first published in New York City on September 22, 1987, by Arthur L. Carter, a very successful former investment banker with publishing interests. The Observer focuses on the city's culture, real estate, the media, politics and the entertainment and...
retrieved Jan. 9, 2008] - Morgan Russell Archives retrieved Jan. 9, 2008
- Morgan Russell and the Old Masters retrieved Jan. 9, 2008