Synchromism
Style of painting based on the theory that colour provides the basis for both form and content. It was conceived in Paris shortly before World War I by MORGAN RUSSELL and STANTON MACDONALD-WRIGHT. It was Russell's idea that paintings could be created based on sculptural forms interpreted two-dimensionally through a knowledge of colour properties. Synchromist paintings, stressing an emphasis on colour rhythms, were composed of abstract shapes, often concealing the submerged forms of figures, for example Synchromy in Blue (1916; New York, Whitney) by Macdonald-Wright. The two artists first attracted attention at the Neue Kunstsalon in Munich in June 1913. Their second exhibition of Synchromist painting was at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris from October to November 1913.
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