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.

L’Esprit Nouveau Subtitle Revue internationale d'Esthétique; subtitle changed Revue internationale illustrée de l'activité contemporaine. Ar
L’Esprit Nouveau Subtitle Revue internationale d'Esthétique; subtitle changed Revue internationale illustrée de l'activité contemporaine. ArPublic domain (credit: Herausgeber: Paul Dermée, Michel Seuphor, Charles-Edouard Je) · 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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