Synchromism

 

SYNCHROMISM

(Started: 1912)

            Synchromism is an art movement founded by Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Morgan Russell in Paris that focused on color. It was the first abstract art movement pioneered by American artists. The main idea was that the color and the sound were similar: These artists thought that the colors of a painting could be arranged harmoniously just like the notes in a symphony, and they believed that their paintings could evoke musical sensations with the utilization of color scales. So their abstract paintings, which they called "synchromies", were based on color scales with advancing and reducing hues. They had exhibitions in Paris, Munich, and New York. These abstract synchromies were new in America and they attracted many American painters.

           

Main representatives were:

·         Stanton MacDonald-Wright

·         Morgan Russell

·         Thomas Hart Benton

·         Patrick Henry Bruce

·         Andrew Dasburg

Stanton MacDonald-Wright

            He was an American painter and teacher who believed in the importance of the color in painting. He studied the color theory in Paris. Influenced by the abstractions of Cubist artists, Macdonald-Wright preferred conventional subjects in his initial works and rendered them in a representational manner, but his use of vibrant colors was experimental. After all, his paintings became pure color abstractions. Yet, by 1920, his works had expressed both Synchromist abstraction and a representative style. Ultimately, his interest shifted from painting to filmmaking, writing, and teaching art history.

Sources:

            http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/578271/Synchromism

            http://fineartsurrey.com/glossaryDetail.php?gid=169

            http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/354160/Stanton-Macdonald-Wright