Synchromism - Morgan Russell and Stanton MacDonald-Wright

by Reed, Henry M

First Edition

Price: $35.00
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Book description: New York: Hollis Taggart Galleries, 1999. Cover is flat and sturdy with light shelf wear. Pages clean and bright. 1999 Catalogue to accompany the May 1999 exhibition. 29 pages, with color photos throughout. Foreword by Hollis Taggart & Vivian Bullaudy. 7-page essay by Henry M. Reed titled 'Synchronism - The First American Modern Art Movement: At the Peak of Creativity, 1912-14'. Includes transcript of a letter handwritten by Morgan Russell in Paris to Andrew Dasburg in New York. With checklist of works, provenance of the collection, exhibitions & publications cited, checklist of archival material, and selected bibliography. SYNCHROMISM: An avant-garde modern art movement founded in 1912 by Russell and Wright characterized by brilliant color, formal innovation, and subjective emotion. Russell & Wright were convinced that color and sound were equivalent, and wanted to 'orchestrate' the colors of a painting the way a composer arranges notes and chords in a musical composition. They developed a system of painting based on color scales. The system consisted of developing form and depth in a painting through advancing and reducing hues. Their ensuing 'synchromies' were some of the first abstract non-objective paintings in American art. RUSSELL (1886-1953): Born in New York City and studied sculpture at the Art Students’ League. He also studied painting under Robert Henri. He moved to Paris in 1908 and studied at Matisse’s art school for a short time. Later in his career, Russell turned to figurative work that was less successful. MACDONALD-WRIGHT (1890-1973): Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, he was among the first Americans to paint in a totally abstract mode. He was also one of the first occidental (western) artists to become interested in Zen and oriental art and culture. In his later years, more and more frequently he visited Japan. Wright is recognized for his influence on local artists in Southern California where he was one of the primary advocates of Modernism. He eventually relinquished his abstract style, and had a period of figurative pictures, inspired by (and using) Japanese forms and colors. In the final years of his life, he returned to Synchromism, but his colors were more clement, tranquil and contemplative; much inspired by the Japanese art and philosophy. Wright also organized the first exhibition of modern American painting in Los Angeles in 1920 with well-known New York art dealer and photographer Alfred Stieglitz. . First Edition. Soft Cover. Very Good/No Jacket. 6" x 8.5". Exhibition Catalog. Synchromist color scales modern art painting Avant Garde.

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