Orphism orOrphic Cubism, a term coined by the FrenchpoetGuillaume Apollinaire in 1912, was an offshoot ofCubism that focused on pureabstraction and bright colors, influenced byFauvism, the theoretical writings ofPaul Signac,Charles Henry and the dye chemistMichel Eugène Chevreul. This movement, perceived as key in the transition from Cubism toAbstract art, was pioneered byFrantišek Kupka,Robert Delaunay andSonia Delaunay, who relaunched the use of color during the monochromatic phase of Cubism.[1]
Orphism art scrutinizes color and the effects of light.[2] Orphism art was painted in the early 1910s, when modern technology innovations altered the perceived time and space. Artists who engaged with Orphism explored the transformative possibilities of color, form, and motion.Marcel Duchamp,Mainie Jellett,Francis Picabia,Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso,Stanton Macdonald-Wright, andMorgan Russell painted Orphism art.[3]
The Orphists were rooted inCubism but tended towards a purelyrical abstraction. They saw art as the unification of sensation and color. More concerned with sensation, they began with recognizable subjects, depicted with abstract structures. Orphism aimed to vacate recognizable subject matter by concentrating exclusively onform andcolor. The movement also strove toward the ideals of Simultanism: endless interrelated states of being.[4]
The decomposition of spectral light inNeo-Impressionist color theory ofPaul Signac andCharles Henry played an important role in the development of Orphism.Robert Delaunay,Albert Gleizes, andGino Severini all knew Henry personally.[5] A mathematician, inventor, and esthetician, Charles Henry was a close friend of the Symbolist writersFélix Fénéon andGustave Kahn. He also knewSeurat, Signac andPissarro, whom he met during the eighth and last Impressionist exhibition in 1886. Henry broughtemotional associational theory into the realm of art: something that ultimately influenced the Neo-Impressionists. Henry and Seurat agreed that the basic elements of art—line, color and form—like words, could be treated independently, each with its own abstract quantity, independent of one another, or in unison, depending on the intention of the artist. "Seurat knows well" wrote Fénéton in 1889, "that the line, independent of its topographical role, possesses an assessable abstract value" in addition to the particles of color, and the relation to emotion of the viewer. The underlying theory behind Neo-Impressionsim had a lasting effect on the works ofDelaunay.[5] The Neo-Impressionists had succeeded in establishing an objective scientific basis for their painting in the domain of color, but only as regards the spectrum of light (for paint pigments the result was less scientific). The Cubists ultimately employed the theory to some extent in color, form anddynamics.[5]
Apollinaire mentioned the term Orphism in an address at the Salon de laSection d'Or in 1912, referring to thepure painting ofFrantišek Kupka.[6]
In his 1913Les Peintres Cubistes, Méditations Esthétiques Apollinaire described Orphism as "the art of painting new totalities with elements that the artist does not take from visual reality, but creates entirely by himself." Apollinaire contended that the work of an Orphic painter "should convey an 'untroubled aesthetic pleasure', a meaningful structure and sublime significance."
These analogies could be seen in the works ofFrantišek Kupka andWassily Kandinsky. Both artists attempted to synthesis the scientific in visual and aural realms, and thereby elevated the possibilities with abstraction.Robert Delaunay andSonia Delaunay painted electric light and believed that light could emit from a painting.[7]
The Salon de la Section d'Or in 1912 was the first exhibition that presented Orphism to the general public. In March 1913 Orphism was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris. Reviewing the salon inMontjoie (29 March 1913) Apollinaire argued for the abolition of Cubism in favor of Orphism: "If Cubism is dead, long live Cubism. The kingdom of Orpheus is at hand!"
The Autumn salon (Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon, Berlin) of 1913, organized byHerwarth Walden ofDer Sturm, exhibited many works by Robert and Sonia Delaunay,Jean Metzinger'sL'Oiseau bleu (1913, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris),Albert Gleizes'Les Joueurs de football (1912-1913, National Gallery of Art), paintings by Picabia, and Léger, along with several Futurist works. From this exhibition Apollinaire's relation with R. Delaunay cooled, following remarks withUmberto Boccioni about the ambiguity of 'simultaneity'. Apollinaire no longer used the term Orphism in his subsequent writings and began instead promoting Picabia,Alexander Archipenko, and Futurist concepts.[2]
Robert Delaunay and his wifeSonia Terk Delaunay remained the main protagonists of the Orphic movement. Their earlier works focused on Fauvist colors, variously abstract; such as Sonia's 1907Finnish Girl and Robert's 1906Paysage au disque, the former relying on pure colors, the latter on color and mosaic-like brushstrokes painted under the influence ofJean Metzinger, also a Neo-Impressionist (with highlyDivisionist andFauve components) at the time.[5]
Delaunay officially broke with cubism in 1912, faulting Picasso for restricting the palette of his still lifes to muted, monkish tones of brown and gray, and for retaining traces of figurative imagery.[8]
Even though Orphism was effectively dissolved beforeWorld War I, American paintersPatrick Henry Bruce and Arthur Burdett Frost Jr., two of R. Delaunay's pupils, embarked on a similar form of art from 1912 onward. TheSynchromistsMorgan Russell andStanton Macdonald-Wright wrote their own manifestos in an attempt to differentiate themselves from the Orphism of the Delaunays.[9]
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