Purism

also: Purisme

movement 1918-1925 France

Purism was a French movement of 1918-1925 founded by the painter Amédée Ozenfant and the architect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, soon known as Le Corbusier. Launched with their essay Après le Cubisme (1918), it argued that Cubism had drifted into decorative, romantic ornament; Purism answered with pictures in which everyday objects - bottles, glasses, carafes, instruments - are reduced to standardized, elementary forms, the object-types, painted with precise, impersonal finish. Order, clarity and the machine age were its ideals: balanced architectural compositions, controlled proportion, restrained color. Ozenfant and Le Corbusier promoted the doctrine in the magazine L'Esprit Nouveau (1920-25), Fernand Léger was a principal associate, and the movement culminated in Le Corbusier's Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau at the 1925 Paris exhibition, after which the two founders' paths diverged.

Amédée Ozenfant , 1921, Nature morte au verre de vin rouge ( Still Life with Glass of Red Wine ), oil on canvas, 50.6 x 61.2 cm, Kunstmuseum
Amédée Ozenfant , 1921, Nature morte au verre de vin rouge ( Still Life with Glass of Red Wine ), oil on canvas, 50.6 x 61.2 cm, KunstmuseumPD-US (credit: Amédée Ozenfant) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Everyday objects reduced to elementary, standardized forms (object-types) with ornament stripped away
  • Smooth, precise, impersonal finish with clear contours and even modeling
  • Still-life subjects - bottles, glasses, carafes, instruments - set in ordered, architectural space
  • Machine-age clarity: balance, mathematical proportion and calm, controlled composition
  • Restrained palette of clear primaries and neutral tones

Key figures

  • Amédée Ozenfant (1886-1966) — Painter who co-founded the movement and formulated its doctrine
  • Le Corbusier (1887-1965) — Architect (born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret) who co-founded Purism and carried it into architecture
  • Fernand Léger (1881-1955) — Principal associate whose machine aesthetic ran parallel to Purism

Example works

  • Après le Cubisme — Amédée Ozenfant and Le Corbusier (1918)
  • Nature morte verticale (Vertical Still Life) — Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret) (1922)
  • Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau — Le Corbusier and Amédée Ozenfant (1925)

Sources

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