Orphism (art) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Orphism or Orphic Cubism (1910-13), the term coined by the French poet

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

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....

, was a little known art movement

Art movement

An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time, or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined within a number of years...

during the time of Cubism

Cubism

Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...

that focused on pure abstraction

Abstraction

Abstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....

and bright colors influenced by Fauvism

Fauvism

Fauvism is the style of les Fauves , a short-lived and loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...

and the dye chemist Eugène Chevreul

Michel Eugène Chevreul

Michel Eugène Chevreul was a French chemist whose work with fatty acids led to early applications in the fields of art and science. He is credited with the discovery of margaric acid and designing an early form of soap made from animal fats and salt...

. This movement was pioneered by the Delaunays, a couple who relaunched the use of color during the monochromatic Cubist movement.

Summary

The Orphists were rooted in Cubism

Cubism

but moved toward a pure lyrical abstraction

Lyrical Abstraction

Lyrical Abstraction is either of two related but distinctly separate trends in Post-war Modernist painting, and a third definition is the usage as a descriptive term. It is a descriptive term characterizing a type of abstract painting related to Abstract Expressionism; in use since the 1940s...

, seeing painting as the bringing together of a sensation of bright colors. This movement is seen as the key in the revolution of Cubism to Abstraction. More concerned with the expression and significance of sensation, this movement retained recognizable subjects but was absorbed by increasingly abstract structures. Orphism aimed to gradually dispense with recognizable subject matter and to rely on form and color alone to communicate meaning. The movement also aimed to express the ideals of Simultanism-the existence of an infinitude of interrelated states of being. Pioneers in the movement, the Delaunays painted in response to Cubism, giving it their own spin.

The Delaunays

Sonia Terk Delaunay 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...

, a husband and wife duo, were the main painters of the Orphic movement. In their earlier works, their styles focused on Fauvist colors with some slight abstraction, which is particularly evident in Sonia's Finnish Girl of 1907 and Robert's Paysage au disque of 1906. The former painting relies heavily on bright colors and smooth form while the latter relies on color and choppy forms. Once they fell in love, however, their painting styles grew and evolved as they experimented with painting together.

Their works are defined by the bright colors, great abstraction, and use of simultaneous contrasting colors and views. In Robert's Eiffel Town Series, he portrays the tower in several views at once, like that of a Cubist painter. But instead of using the muted tones most Cubists did, he painted with bold, bright, contrasting colors. He often portrayed the tower with reds and pinks with cooler colors throughout. The more Robert painted the tower, the more abstract, fragmented and colorful it became.

In 1913 the Delaunays showed their works in the Salon des Indépendants

Société des Artistes Indépendants

—The Société des Artistes Indépendants formed in Paris in summer 1884 choosing the device "No jury nor awards" . Albert Dubois-Pillet, Odilon Redon, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac were among its founders...

and the Herbst Salon, the latter being the first Orphist Salon. It hosted mostly works by the Delaunays, as well as Picabia

Francis Picabia

Francis Picabia was a French painter, poet, and typographist, associated with both the Dada and Surrealist art movements.- Early life :...

, Metzinger

Jean Metzinger

Jean Metzinger was a French painter.Metzinger was born in Nantes, France. Initially he was influenced by Fauvism and Impressionism, but from 1908 he was associated with Cubism. Metzinger was a member of the Section d'Or group of artists...

, Gleizes

Albert Gleizes

Albert Gleizes , was a French painter. Born Albert Léon Gleizes and raised in Paris, he was the son of a fabric designer who ran a large industrial design workshop...

, Léger

Fernand Léger

Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...

, and other Futurist

Futurism

Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...

painters. All of these painters were influenced by the Delaunays but didn't themselves call themselves Orphic painters; rather Apollinaire gave them the title of Orphic painters. Many artists were given the heading of Orphism but shied away from the elusive definition of the movement. The Delaunays were not only the pioneers in the movement, but they continued painting in this style throughout their lives.

Apollinaire

The term Orphism was coined by Apollinaire, an art critic, in 1912, referring to the works of Sonia and Robert Delaunay. Their abstract Cubist works caught his eye. In Les Peintres cubistes he described Orphism as "the art of painting new totalities with elements that the artist does not take from visual reality, but creates entirely by himself; he gives them a powerful reality. An Orphic painter's works should convey an untroubled aesthetic
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...

pleasure, but at the same time a meaningful structure and sublime significance. He suggests that what the Delaunays were doing was pure art.

Being accused of stealing the Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...

in December 1912, Apollinaire stayed with the Delaunays. They became close friends and collaborated on many works. Apollinaire even wrote several texts discussing their work to promote the concept of Orphism. They remained close friends and worked together to promote Orphism until an argument broke out between Robert and Umberto Boccioni

Umberto Boccioni

Umberto Boccioni was an Italian painter and sculptor. Like other Futurists, his work centered on the portrayal of movement , speed, and technology. He was born in Reggio Calabria, Italy.-Biography:...

, a Futurist

Futurism

painter, about simultaneity and their friendship ended abruptly.

Eugène Chevreul

One of Robert's biggest influences, besides his wife, was the chemist Eugène Chevreul. Most famous for discovering margarine

Margarine

Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes, typically composed of vegetable oils. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter...

, Chevreul delved in dye chemistry as well as the aesthetics of simultaneous contrast

Contrast effect

A contrast effect is the enhancement or diminishment, relative to normal, of perception, cognition and related performance as a result of immediately previous or simultaneous exposure to a stimulus of lesser or greater value in the same dimension...

of colors. He had three main ideas to his color theories: "when complementary colors are juxtaposed, each appears to be more intense than when seen in isolation" and "if there is a perceptible difference in dark-light value between the two colors, then the darker will appear to be even darker" as well as that "all colors present in the field of vision at the same time mutually modify one another in specific ways".

Chevreul influenced many artists because he understood scientifically what many artists knew instinctively.

After 1913

When Apollinaire had ditched the Delaunays and Orphism had lost its novelty as a new art form, the Delaunays continued painting in their personal shared style. They may not have always called their work Orphic, but the aesthetics and theories were the same. Robert continued painting while Sonia delved into other media, including fashion, interior and textile design, all within the realm of Orphism.

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