thelittle book of art
is nothing but simplicity."Les Corbusier
“Purism
U R I S M
PURISM WAS A MOVEMENT FORMED AROUND 1918 WHICH PROPOSED A KIND OF PAINTING IN WHICH OBJECTS ARE REPRESENTED AS POWERFUL BASIC FORMS STRIPPED OF DETAIL. PURISM WAS AN ATTEMPT TO RESTORE REGULARITY IN A WAR-TORN FRANCE POST WORLD WAR I. THE MOVEMENT WAS FOUNDED BY EDOUARD JEANNERET (BETTER KNOWN AS THE MODERN ARCHITECT LE CORBUSIER) AND AMÉDÉE OZENFANT. THEY SET OUT THE THEORY OF PURISM IN THEIR BOOK APRÈS LE CUBISME (AFTER CUBISM) PUBLISHED IN 1918. THEY CRITICISED THE FRAGMENTATION OF THE OBJECT IN CUBISM AND THE WAY IN WHICH CUBISM HAD BECOME, IN THEIR VIEW, DECORATIVE BY THAT TIME. INSTEAD THEY PROPOSED A KIND OF PAINTING IN WHICH OBJECTS WERE REPRESENTED AS POWERFUL BASIC FORMS STRIPPED OF DETAIL. FERNAND LÉGER WAS ANOTHER KEY ARTIST ASSOCIATED WITH PURISM. A CRUCIAL ELEMENT OF PURISM WAS ITS EMBRACE OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE MACHINE AND IT AIMED TO GIVE MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL SUBJECT MATTER A TIMELESS, CLASSICAL QUALITY. REFERENCES TO ANCIENT GREEK ARCHITECTURE CAN BE SEEN IN THE FLUTING (LIKE A GREEK COLUMN) ON THE BOTTLES IN OZENFANT’S STILL LIFE COMPOSITIONS.
BY SELIN SOYAK (2022)
THE PURISM ART MOVEMENT HAD A SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE ON FRENCH ARCHITECTURE. ITS EMPHASIS ON CLARITY, SIMPLICITY, AND GEOMETRIC FORMS TRANSLATED WELL INTO THE DESIGN OF BUILDINGS. ARCHITECTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PURISM MOVEMENT, SUCH AS LE CORBUSIER, SOUGHT TO CREATE FUNCTIONAL AND EFFICIENT BUILDINGS THAT COULD MEET THE NEEDS OF A MODERN SOCIETY. THEY FOCUSED ON USING NEW MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION METHODS TO CREATE CLEAN AND UNCLUTTERED DESIGNS
THE PURISM MOVEMENT ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE, WHICH EMPHASIZED THE USE OF SIMPLE FORMS AND FUNCTIONALISM. THIS STYLE BECAME POPULAR IN THE 1920S AND 1930S AND HAD A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON ARCHITECTURE AROUND THE WORLD.
OTHER ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS WHO WERE INFLUENCED BY THE PURIST MOVEMENT INCLUDE LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE, WHO FAMOUSLY COINED THE PHRASE "LESS IS MORE," AND THE DUTCH ARCHITECT GERRIT RIETVELD, WHO DESIGNED THE ICONIC RIETVELD SCHRÖDER HOUSE IN UTRECHT, WHICH IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE KEY WORKS OF THE DE STIJL MOVEMENT.
“Less is more" - Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe