PURISM, Le Corbusier and Ozenfant

Amédée Ozenfant and Le Corbusier during their visit to Rome in 1921 - ©FLC/ADAGP

PURISM, Le Corbusier and Ozenfant

15 April > 6 May 2021

ABOUT

Amédée Ozenfant and Le Corbusier on the Eiffel Tower, June 26, 1923 - ©FLC/ADAGP

PURISM, Le Corbusier and Ozenfant

Purism is an art movement formed in 1917 by Amédée Ozenfant and Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (the future Le Corbusier) as a successor to cubism, which they claimed had been rendered obsolete due to the shock of the Great War. Their objective was to record modern life by evoking the standardised manufacture of domestic objects and the mechanisation of society – a legacy of the 1914-18 war. Furthermore, unlike cubism, purism does not distort objects but tries to capture their essence. Not only bottles, glasses or vases are represented, it is the mere concept of the objects that is the subject of purist works.

To establish a firm foundation for their new movement, they produced a manifesto: “After Cubism” published in 1918, and in 1920 created the magazine “L’Esprit nouveau” which promoted their art internationally while building up a solid reputation for them as theorists.

PURISM, Le Corbusier and Ozenfant