A Contemporary Assessment of the Genesis of the Modern Aesthetic The Impact of Modern Art on Modern Architecture by 'Ora Joubert Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree ofDoctor ofPhilosophy in Architecture, Faculty ofCommunity and Development Disciplines, University ofNatal, Durban, South Africa 1999 ABSTRACT This dissertation assesses the impact of modem art on the so-called heroic period of modem architecture, dated for the purposes of this thesis from 1917 to 1933. The study is premised on two principal arguments: firstly, modem art - Cubism, in particular - was the seminal influence on the codification of a modem architectural vocabulary. Secondly, the increasing preoccupation with utilitarian tenets obscured and ultimately undermined the semantic significance ofmodem architecture that was derived from the visual arts. A general introduction to the tumultuous history of 20th century architecture substantiates these presuppositions and contextualizes the current interest in the aesthetic intent of the pioneering Modernists. For the sake of reviewing the genesis of the modem aesthetic, the classical ideal of beauty is briefly reflected upon. This is followed by a review of the alternating depiction of pictorial depth and its extraordinary symbiotic relationship with the expression ofplastic space. The cubist-induced perception and experience of space is preceded by the catalytic role of the mechanization ofvision on the rejection of the classical canons of beauty. An in-depth analysis of Cubism, coupled with its derivatives that spawned architectural equivalents, reinforces the volumetric incarnation of modem art, exemplified by Purism, Constructivism and Neo-Plasticism. This study is concluded with an assessment of the adopted prerruses and a reflection on the longer-term objectives of this study. CONTENTS PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 11 CHAPTER 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1.1 Creative Endeavour as a Reflection of the Prevailing Paradigm 1 1.2 The Post-Industrial Paradigm 2 1.3 Heroic Modernism 3 1.3.1 Introduction 3 1.3.2 Rationalism 3 1.3.3 Functionalism 5 1.3.4 Socialism 5 1.3.5 The International Style 6 1.4 The Vilification of the Modern Movement 7 1.5 The Neo-Modern Alternatives 9 1.6 Academic Intent 10 1.7 Theoretical Strategy 12 1.8 Delineation and Clarification 13 1.9 Editorial Conventions 15 CHAPTER 2 THE CLASSICAL IDEAL OF BEAUTY 2.1 Preface 16 2.2 Introduction 16 2.3 The Legacy of Ancient Greece 16 2.3.1 The Decoding ofNature 16 2.3.2 Platonic Aesthetic Doctrine 18 2.3.3 The Classical Artistic Aspiration 20 2.3.4 The Vitruvian Confirmation 21 2.3.5 Nature as Design Precedent 22 2.4 The Reappraisal of the Classical Aesthetic 23 2.4.1 Introduction 23 2.4.2 The Renaissance 23 2.3.3 The Architectural Renaissance 24 2.4.4 Classical Architectural Theory 25 2.4.5 The Artistic Response 25 2.5 Summary 26 CHAPTER 3 THE COGNO-PERCEPTION OF SPACE 3.1 Preface 27 3.2 Introduction 27 3.3 The Algorithm of Linear Perspective 28 3.4 Curvilinear Perspective 29 3.5 Spatial Cogno-Perception 30 3.6 Alternating Cosmological Paradigms 31 3.7 The Pespectival Spatial Experience 34 3.8 Summary 35 CHAPTER 4 THE MECHANIZATION OF VISION 4.1 Preface 36 4.2 Introduction 36 4.3 Mechanization Takes Command 37 4.4 Aesthetics as Moral Dilemma 38 4.5 Stylistic Dissent 41 4.5 The Advent of Photography 41 4.6 The Aesthetic Logic of Modern Art 43 4.8 Towards the Reappraisal of Art 46 4.9 Summary 47 CHAPTER 5 CUBISM 5.1 Preface 48 5.2 Introduction 48 5.3 The Genesis of Cubism 49 5.4 Major Influences 50 5.4.1 Fauvism 51 5.4.2 African Art 51 5.4.3 Cezanne 52 5.5 Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 54 5.5.1 Introduction 54 5.5.2 Influences 55 5.5.3 Deductions 56 5.6 The Evolution of Cubism 62 5:6.1 Cezannian Cubism 62 5.6.2 Analytical Cubism 63 5.6.3 Hermetic Cubism 63 5.6.4 Synthetic Cubism 64 5.6.5 Crystalline Cubism 65 5.7 The Assimilation of Cubism 65 5.8 Criticism and Demise 66 5.9 Cubism, in Conclusion 68 5.10 Summary 69 CHAPTER 6 THE PICTORIAL DERIVATIVES OF CUBISM 6.1 Preface 71 6.2 Introduction 71 6.3 Kinetic Cubism: Futurism 72 6.3.1 Futurism as Cubist Derivative 72 6.3.2 Historical Overview 73 6.3.3 The Futurist Legacy 75 6.4 The Non-Figurative Propensity of Cubism: Abstract Art 76 6.4.1 Introduction 76 6.4.2 Orphism 76 6.4.3 Expressionist Abstraction 77 6.5 Geometric Cubism: Neo-Plasticism 78 6.5.1 Piet Mondrian 78 6.5.2 The Founding ofDe Stijl 79 6.5.3 Theoretical Premises 80 6.6 Planimetric Cubism: Neo-Plasticism 82 6.6.1 6.6.2 6.6.3 6.6.3 6.7 6.8 Kazimir Malevich Rudimentary Suprematism Dynamic Suprematism Suprematist Application The Pictorial Derivatives, in Conclusion Summary 82 83 84 84 85 85 CHAPTER 7 "AFTER CUBISM": PURISM 7.1 Preface 7.2 Introduction 7.3 The Genesis of Purism 7.4 Ozenfant's Contribution 7.5 Purist Dogma 7.5.1 Purism as a Counteracting Artistic Initiative 7.5.2 L'Esprit Nouveau 7.5.3 Purist Artistic Theory 7.5.4 Purist Aesthetic Doctrine 7.6 Purist Painting 7.6.1 Introduction 7.6.1 Rudimentary Purism 7.6.2 Volumetric Purism 7.6.3 Fragmented Purism 7.6.4 Post-Purist Period 7.7 Purism, in Conclusion 7.8 Summary 87 87 89 90 92 92 93 94 100 102 102 104 105 107 108 109 110 CHAPTER 8 THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PURIST ART & PURIST ARCmTECTURE 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.3.1 8.3.2 8.3.3 8.4 8.5 8.5.1 8.5.2 8.5.3 8.5.4 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.8.1 8.8.2 8.8.3 8.8.4 8.8.5 8.9 8.9.1 8.9.2 Preface Introduction Period of Invention Domestic Prototypes Vers une Architecture Purist Villas The Correspondence Between Purist Art and Architecture Formal Preoccupation The Methodological Approach to Form The Metaphysical Approach to Form The Cubist Approach to Form The Purist Approach to Form Conceptual Reconciliation Plastic Repertoire Compositional Correlation The Regulated Composition Dom-Ino as Ordering Device The Generating Surface "Four Compositions" The Classical Connection Spatial Amplification The Cubist Legacy Extended The Architectural Assimilation of Space 112 112 114 114 114 115 115 117 117 118 120 121 122 124 126 126 127 129 130 131 132 132 133 8.9.3 8.9.4 8.9.5 8.10 The Spatial Paradox Le Corbusier's Artistic Response to Space Le Corbusier's Architectural Response to Space Summary 135 137 138 143 CHAPTER 9 THE VOLUMETRIC TRANSFORMATION OF CUBO-FUTURISM: THESOVffiTAVAN~GARDE 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.4.1 9.4.2 9.5 9.5.1 9.5.2 9.5.3 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.8.1 9.8.2 9.8.3 9.9 9.10 9.11 Preface Introduction Futurist Sculpture The Assimilated Soviet Response Introduction The Plastic Connection Extended The Genesis of Constructivism Introduction Spatial Construction Constructivist Production Volumetric Suprematism Rationalism and Symbolic Romanticism Constructivist Architecture Introduction Theoretical Impetus Methodological Impetus The Demise of Constructivism Constructivism, in Conclusion Summary 145 145 146 148 148 148 150 151 151 152 152 155 157 157 158 159 161 164 165 CHAPTER 10 THE TECTONIC INCARNATION OF ABSTRACT ART: DE STIJL 10.1 Preface 167 10.2 Introduction 167 10.3 The Genesis of Neo-Plastic Architecture 168 10.3.1 Formative Period 168 10.3.2. The Zenith ofDe Stijl 171 lOA From Elemental Painting to Elemental Construction 174 10.4.1 TheoreticalImpetus 174 10.4.2 Colour, Composition and Space 175 10.4.3 Towards Collective Construction 176 10.5 Neo-Plastic Architecture 177 10.5.1 Formal Modulations via Vantongerloo 177 10.5.2 Volumetric Transformations via Van Doesburg and Van Eesteren 178 10.5.3 Four-Dimensional Decomposition 178 10.5.4 Rietveld's Spatial Constructs 180 10.5.5 Neo-Plastic Synthesis: Schrbder-Schrader House 181 10.5.5 Neo-Plastic Successor: Mies van der Rohe 183 10.6 The Period of Transformation and Disintegration 184 10.6.1 Elementarism 184 10.6.2 The Demise ofDe Stijl 186 10.7 De Stijl, in Conclusion 188 10.8 Summary 189 CHAPTER 11 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS & CONCLUSIONS 11.1 Preface 191 11.2 The Unselfconscious Reversal to the Aspectival 191 11.3 The Impacting Role of Cubism on Modern Architecture 194 11.4 The Polemics of Functionalism 196 11.5 Conclusion 197 GLOSSARY 198 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 209 BmLIOGRAPHY 221 PREFACE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Doctoral research tends to be autobiographical. This study is no exception. In addition to a keen appreciation of modern art and a particular interest in the relationship between the visual arts and architecture, my involvement in academia has also contributed substantially to this undertaking. The tuition of architectural design and theory has led to an increasing realization of the inconsistencies inherent in the aesthetic evaluation of contemporary architecture - seldom substantiated beyond subjective preference or ideological prejudice and, of late, even political correctness. Such value judgements are in part remnants of the legacy of the 20th century that autonomous aesthetic decisions are indicative of oppressive historicism or bourgeois preoccupations. These predispositions entirely disregard the fact that, since time immemorial, architects have been wrestling with the codification of aesthetic principles that govern sound design decision-making. ' These ambiguities culminated in my quest for a systematic analysis of the aesthetic theory of Modernism, specifically, because the modern design idiom - whether in alliance or in opposition remains the principal point of reference of all 20th century architecture. Fortunately, enough time has lapsed to examine more objectively both the strengths and shortcomings ofModernism. I am of the opinion that as a result of much-debated failures of the Modern Movement, its principal contributions to the universal semantics of architecture have, until very recently, been lost sight of I also maintain that Rationalism as design philosophy, Functionalism as design strategy and Socialism as political ideology were adopted as post-justifications for the codification of a novel design idiom; that Functionalism was erroneously equated with intrinsic aesthetic considerations, and that this equation was one of the primary reasons for the vilification of modern architecture. In fact, my research indicates that the genesis of modern architecture owes a great deal more to artistic pursuit and sensory gratification than scholars of architecture would generally care to admit. This thesis, firstly, advocates a reappraisal of the unique space-time dimension, corresponding tectonic innovations, and abstract formalism that were derived from artistic experimentation. Secondly, in view of the prevailing neo-modern genre - and given the tumultuous history of modern architecture - this study aims at an accountable assessment of this current manifestation Cl propos its progenitor. Thirdly, this study is motivated conclusively from a designer's point of view and is testimony to an unwavering commitment to the art of architecture. The vastness of the topic, coupled with the synthesis of two autonomous academic disciplines, led, unwittingly, to the encyclopaedic nature of this undertaking. Notwithstanding, the conclusions drawn from this study are intended for practical implementation. This endeavour is intended to aid both tutor and learner, enable a better understanding of a highly complex discipline and, hopefully, contribute to the expansion of a personal design repertoire. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere appreciation to the Human Sciences Research Council for financial assistance; Tildie Williams for editing this manuscript; my supervisor and co-supervisor, Professors Waiter Peters and Denis Radford, for their academic guidance; Dr Roger Fisher, my dear friend and respected academic, for his invigorating discourse; Kobus van Zyl, for his assistance in the compilation of the graphic material; David Winer, for his moral support; and Professor Pancho Guedes, who not only showed a keen interest in this study but also practises the art of architecture. My past and present , students also share in this accomplishment as their persistent enquiries stimulated the quest for clarity and comprehension. Hierdie studie word, ten slotte, opgedra aan beide my ouers: my moeder sonder wie se emosionele asook finansiele bystand hierdie taak nooit sou gerealiseer het nie; en ter nagedagtenis aan my vader, Pro! Daniel Malan Joubert, wie se uitnemende akademiese loopbaan en besonderse liefde vir die beeld.ende kunste vir my 'n deurlopende aansporing was en sal bly. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTERl 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1.1 CREATIVE ENDEAVOUR AS A REFLECTION OF THE PREVAILING PARADIGM "Man encodes his artefacts with the ideas generated within the prevailing paradigm. His art reflects such patterns of encoding and constitutes the 'style' of the artefact. The prevailing paradigm therefore not only directs the scientific pursuit, but also artistic endeavour. The style of artistic expression is thus a reflection of the prevailing paradigm." (Fisher, 1989: 10) All forms of creative endeavour can be qualified as the manifestation of cerebral activity that reflects the prevailing circumstances of our existence within the total sphere of the human experience. Human thought encompasses a knowledge of the past, the present and even the anticipated future, but projected from a specific point in time. The prevailing circumstances are endorsed by that particular moment of mental conception. This premise implies that the diverse range of creative expression is bound, irrevocably, to a context oftime and place, encapsulated in the notion of Zeitgeist. The past three centuries ofWestern history have been an epoch oftU,IpUltuous change, culminating in a renunciation of the past, the rejection of tradition and the revision of codes of conduct. In terms of the aforegoing definition, the artistic and architectural realizations from the 20th century serve as profound evidence of this radical process of transformation. The visual arts - the optical manifestation of cerebral activity - were in the forefront in reflecting the Zeitgeist of the industrial paradigm and were, moreover, forced to review the credibility of their disciplinary pursuits to a far greater extent than any of the related art forms. The Industrial Revolution and the resultant host of inventions it set in motion - mechanical reproduction, in particular - not only threatened the role of the artist in society, but challenged also the definition of art per se. The artistic endeavour collectively identified as modem art - commenci~ from 1863 - represents, as much as it illustrates, this induced metamorphosis of the human condit.ion. This manifested in the portrayal of new physical realities - of new subject matter. But, more importantly, it altered our perception of reality whether or not reality ought to be defined strictly in terms of optical perceptibility - and questioned its means of communication. Existing pictorial traditions and techniques were soon considered insufficient and inappropriate. They were ultimately rendered obsolete, leading to the inevitable confrontation with the customary and, by implication, classical canons of beauty. In the quest for expressing new cognitive insights, artistic experimentation extended the boundaries of our optical reality through an extended scale of vision that explored the depths of both the human experience and the human psyche. This materialized not only in pictorial terms, but also through psychological, intellectual and emotional impact. The implications of these experiments were so vast that they had to influence all the related creative arenas, not least of all architecture - considered the 'mother' of the arts. The ensuing artistic explorations impacted significantly on the semantic codification of what in time became known as modem architecture. In addition to drastically altering aesthetic perception and appreciation, modem art introduced a process of abstract conceptualization that manifested in new modes of plastic expression and spatial resolution. 2 1.2 THE POST-INDUSTRIAL PARADIGM "The term 'postmodern' has been appropriated throughout the disciplines and has been associated, not with a stylistic movement, but rather an inherent discomfort in the relationship ofWestern man with the premises of his thinking." (Fisher, 1989: 27) Contemporary French philosopher Jean-Franyois Lyotard (1984: 10) maintains that the current age, dating from 1960, encompasses a critical scepticism which he considers indicative of the so-called post-modern condition. According to Samuel Toulmin in The Return to Cosmology, Postmodern Science and the Theology ofNature (1982: 100): "... if we are irremediably stuck with the existing academic divisions of historical time, we must reconcile ourselves to a paradoxical-sounding thought: namely, the thought that we no longer live in the 'modern' world. Our own natural science today is no longer 'modern' science. Instead ... it is rapidly engaged in becoming 'postindustrial' science; the science of the 'postmodern' world, of 'postnationalistic' politics and 'postindustrial' society - the world that has not yet discovered how to define itself of what it is, but only in terms of what it has just-now-ceased to be." It has since been accepted that the paradigm designated to the two hundred-year period following the genesis of the Industrial Revolution (c. 1760) had been surpassed by the post-industrial - or post-modern - specifically, in relation to the developed world. Such a scenario - "an incredulity towards metanarratives" (Fisher, 1989: 28) - signifies a fundamental shift in Western thought from an autocratic, dogmatic position to a far greater degree of flexibility and facilitation which encourages an inclusive pluralism. We evidently live in a sceptical age in which "consensus politics has a fragile existence and the authority of any group, ideology or individual has a limited period of leadership" (Jencks, 1988: 27). It is speculated that this condition may be permanent, given "the decline of unifying religious and social ideologies and the rise of [a] critical scepticism and other types of rationalities" (ibid.). Roger Fisher (1989: 28) paraphrases the prevailing post-modern paradigm as "a move away from the cohesive structure of the Newtonian paradigm to a state of being which tolerates a notion that certain experiences are irreconcilable and unquantifiable". Charles Jencks, the Linnaeus of contemporary architectural history, argues that this sense of tolerance has been extended to architecture. As the major proponent of a pluralistic style and credited with the codification of the post-modern architectural language, Jencks has during recent years been advocating a stylistic pluralism in architecture. In the aptly entitled article "Late-Modernism vs Post-Modernism: The Two-Party System" (1988: 27), Jencks proposes that neither movement assumes the dominant position: "...underlying the constant change, the insult-go-around of architectural politics, are two . basic traditions which I have called the Late-Modern and Post-Modern approaches. Both, as one would guess, try to make sense of an earlier Modern architecture that has lost its direction ... but neither enjoys the power and status of its predecessor ... Pluralism rules ... Architects, critics and the public are becoming ever more agitated and confused about this acrimony, but it is a small price to pay for the pluralism and what now amounts to a balance of power between the two reigning approaches. In fact it has started to create something very positive ... the equivalent of the two-party system set in permanent opposition, something that allows further parties to emerge and many previously quiet voices to be heard." ... .) The departure from advocating a singular, though admittedly inclusive, pluralistic style (the so-called double-coded, multi-valent Post-Modernism) to embracing a stylistic pluralism is significant. The acceptance of a two-party - or rather, a multi-party - democracy of architectural expression encourages, instead, a pluralistic ethos. Such a position acknowledges the existence of the plethora of stylistic alternatives. Presumably, these different design approaches are considered equally legitimate responses to the built environment, but with architectural merit and appropriateness, hopefully, evaluated in terms of the selected response to the particular set of contextual circumstances. Philip Johnson (1988: 8), himself prone to stylistic metamorphosis, endorsed this notion of a pluralistic ethos when he made the following statement: "No generally persuasive '-ism' has [yet] appeared. It may be none will arise unless there is a world-wide, new religion or set of beliefs out of which an aesthetic can be formed. Meanwhile pluralism reigns, perhaps a soil in which poetic, original artists can develop." Ironically, this inclusive and, by implication, democratic approach adopted in both the practice and assessment of contemporary architecture concurs with the demise of Communism and the determination to move towards a global political democracy. This pluralistic approach - a 'stylistic' democracy - fostered by the prevailing post-industrial paradigm, is a far cry from the univalent and authoritarian stance adhered to by the pioneers ofmodem architecture that adumbrated its discourse at the beginning ofthe 20th century. 1. 3 HEROIC MODERNISM 1.3.1 Introduction Akin to the visual arts, the heroic period of modem architecture - dated for the purposes of this study from 1917 until 1933 - was characterized by the investigation and delineation of new conceptual premises - technological, methodological, formal and ideological. The proposal of a utilitarian and socially responsible architecture - where form, supposedly, follows function - was ultimately considered the most appropriate, though exclusive, response to the then-prevailing industrial (modem) paradigm. In hindsight, these noble intentions were more than justified. Not only in response to the bewildering demands spawned by the Industrial Revolution, but, and equally important, in naive anticipation of the new societal order that professed equality to all mankind. In due course, Rationalism as philosophical credo, Functionalism as design strategy, and Socialism as political dogma were adopted as the conceptual essence of a contemporaneous architectural expression. 1.3.2 Rationalism Rationalism as an architectural concept - according to which structural and utilitarian efficiencies determine formal expression - has permeated theoretical discourse since the early 18th century. The political and religious dissent engendered by the Enlightenment (c. 1760-1850) propelled the architectural profession of the day to revise the excess of Baroque and Rococo, and to initiate a more 'precise' reappraisal of antiquity than had previously been attempted. (Evidently, Renaissance Classicism was considered a subjective appropriation thereof) The culminating attempts - qualified as Neo-Classicism - coincided with pertinent theoretical enquiries made by a contingent of French scholars of architecture. In Modern Architecture: A Critical History (1980: 12-19), architectural historian Kenneth Frampton traces the genesis of a rational approach to architecture to amateur architect Claude Perrault (1613-1688) and his questioning of the universal validity of classical doctrine in Vitruvius, published in 1673. This challenge was pursued by Abbe Jean Louis de Cordemoy (1651-1722) who encouraged a search for "truth and simnlicitv" in architecture in his Nouveau TraitP. dp. Toutp /'Arrhitpr'11Jrp f170fl) 4 De Cordemoy argued that the purpose of a building should be expressed in its formal realization and that ornamentation should be subject to propriety. Abbe Marc-Antoine Laugier (1713-1769) endorsed this disposition in his famous L'Essai sur l'Architecture (1753), though asserting that primordial form, devoid of all superfluousness, should serve as precedent for the truthful, even economical, expression of shelter. Apart from the archetypal explorations of the so-called visionary architects of the 18th century, the rationalist quest manifested also in the architecture ofHenri Labrouste (1801-1875) and the theories of Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-Ie-Duc (1814-1879). Labrouste, generally cited as the first proponent of a structural Rationalism of the neo-classical genre, insisted on the primacy of construction and the avoidance of ornamentation as demonstrated consistently in his work. By contrast, Viollet-Ie-Duc's investigations of Gothicism reaffirmed the necessity of a rational - even regional - approach to architecture. Viollet-1e-Duc stated his convictions in Entretiens sur l'Architecture (1872) as follows: "In architecture, there are two necessary ways of being true. It must be true according to the programme and true according to the methods of construction. To be true according to programme is to fulfil exactly and simply the conditions imposed by need; to be true according to the method of construction, is to employ the materials according to their qualities and properties ... purely artistic questions of symmetry and apparent form are only secondary conditions in the presence of our dominant principles." [Emphasis as quoted from Frampton, 1980: 64.] Although ardently committed to the spirit of his age, Viollet-Ie-Duc's own architectural designs - save for an eloquent comparison between Gothicism and 19th century cast iron skeletal structure t - did not amount to much. However, his declarations and implicit cultural nationalism were persuasive in those countries where the classical influence was relatively minimal, or nationalistic sentiments particularly pronounced - hence his impact in Catalonia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scotland. Viollet-Ie-Duc's legacy culminated in the genesis of Art Nouveau - the first architectural idiom since the Middle Ages not derived from any historical precedent. The declaration of intent by the Societe Centrale d'Architecture de Belgique (the Belgian contingent of Art Nouveau), published in L'Emulation in 1872, endorses Viollet-Ie-Duc's overwhelming influence on their novel design enterprise: "We are called to create something which is our own, something to which we can give a new name. We are called upon to invent a style." (Frampton, ibid.: 67) The rationalist tradition persisted, pervading also the assessment of architectural history. In Histoire de l'Architecture (1899), French engineer and author Auguste Choisy (1841-1904) insisted that stylistic transformations were merely the logical consequence of technological development. Choisy was eminently critical of Art Nouveau and questioned its excessive decorative embellishment. His stance found due support in Adolf Loos (1870-1933), whose controversial article "Ornament und Verbrechen" (Ornament and Crime, 1908) slated the Austrian derivative of Art Nouveau, entitled Secessionism (1886-1912). Choisy's theories excercised a substantial influence on the unique concrete constructions of Auguste Perret (1874-1954) and also on the so-called elementarist housing proposals of Tony Gamier (1869-1948) for his visionary Cite Industrielle project of 1904 - examples that were synthesized by the pioneering modem architects, though responding to an amalgamated rationalist philosophy according to their particular ideological dispositions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I With reference to Viollet-le-Duc's seminal work Dictionnaire Raissone de l'Architecture Franraise, published between 1854 and 1868. 5 1.3.3 Functionalism Functionalism, an obvious extension of a rationalist design philosophy, is not only the most contentious aspect of modem architecture, but its academic origin - in a modem context - is also in dispute. Inevitably, the practical aspects of architecture have always been an overriding consideration in the realization of any built structure. During the 20th century, the denotation presumably gained currency due to the slogan "form follows function", generally held to have been coined by Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) in his essay "Ornament in Archite.cture" of 1892. Reyner Banham makes the following comment in Theory and Design ofthe First Machine Age (1960a; 1996: 320): "By the middle of the Thirties it was already common practice to use the word 'functionalism', as a blanket term for the progressive architecture of the Twenties ... Yet ... it is doubtful if the ideas implicit in Functionalism - let alone in the word itself - were ever significantly present in the minds of the influential architects of the period. Scholiasts may care to dispute the exact date on which this misleading word was first used as the label for the International Style, but there is little doubt that the first consequential use was in Alberto Sartoris's book Gli Elementi del/'architettura Funzionale, which appeared in Milan in 1932." Alison and Peter Smithson also refer to the belligerence of Functionalism in The Heroic Period of the Modern Architecture (1981: 70): "In the 1930s, through some phenomenon that is too complicated to understand properly, something called functionalism superseded all the separate and distinctive flavours of the heroic period. By functionalism was meant the abolition of ornament and the abandoning of pitched roofs and the Orders. The stylistic void thus created was somehow to be filled by function and sociology. In this way, a rejection of style (and with it consistency and the concept of architecture) and a misrepresentation ... came to represent Modem Architecture to a generation who never really knew what the original excitement was all about." It is submitted that it was due to the methodological connotation that Sullivan ascribed to function that enforced its strategic implication and subsequent adoption as the primary generator for a modem architectural expression. Functionalism was, though, subjected to divergent interpretation. Its appropriation ranged from an organic Functionalism developed by Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959), to the machine-inspired, though intrinsically metaphysical, Functionalism laboriously promulgated by Charles-Eduard Jeanneret-Le Corbusier (1887-1965), to the pragmatic Functionalism 2 propagated by the protagonists ofMarxism particularly the adherents ofConstructivism (1919-1932) and the Neue Sachlichkeit (1923-1933). The rnid-1950s saw the introduction of a 'humane' Functionalism in a concerted effort to regain the credibility lost through indiscriminate application. Ironically, this attempt coincided with the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 and the ensuing concessions made by the political oligarchy to 'humanize' Communism. 1.3.4 Socialism By the late 1920s and early 1930s, Functionalism had become synonymous with socialist aspirations and the Marxist ethos of production. Any aesthetic considerations independent of utilitarian performance were repudiated as antiquated, considered politically suspect and regarded as ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 Serenyi, P. (00.), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall), 4, uses the term "pragmatic utilitarianism" to describe the architectural approach of the exponents of the Neue Sachlichkeit. 6 technologically stifling. 3 Although the incubatory period of Heroic Modernism entailed the codification of a formal language derived from artistic experimentation, all design decisions were soon verified, or altogether abandoned, by the overruling functionalist premise and socialist agenda. This becomes apparent when one reviews the curricular development of the academic institutions in the Soviet Union and at the Bauhaus (1991-1933), and also the evolution of the Dutch movement, De [de] Stijl (1917-1931). In all these instances, the initial enthusiasm for the novel modem aesthetic was surpassed, conclusively, by utilitarian and social considerations. Within this context, it is worth considering the undated remark 4 by one ofthe founder members ofDe Stijl, Jacobus Johannes Pieter Dud (1890-1963): "... through the process of decomposition I gained a new sense of proportion, of space ... but I abandoned it to move in another direction: a healthy, broad, universal, social architecture." Even Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964), whose Schroder-Schrader House, Utrecht (1924), epitomized the novel De Stijl aesthetic, had by 1927 rejected all formal explorations modelled on painterly experimentation (see Chapter 10). The comment by German architect Bruno Taut (1880-1938) in Modern Architecture (1929: 9) summarized the pervading attitude: "If everything is founded on sound efficiency, this efficiency itself, or rather its utility will form its own aesthetic law. " 1.3.5 The International Style Despite the pioneering Modernists' methodological (versus stylistic) approach to architecture, the Weissenhofsiedlung, Stuttgart, of 1927, demonstrated a collective implementation of the white, prismatic, flat-roofed mode of building that was identified, sardonically, as the "International Style". The exhibition entitled "Modem Architecture: International Exhibition", hosted at the Museum of Modem Art (MoMA) in New York in 1932, coincided with the publication of the book The International Style: Architecture Since 1922 by Henry-Russell Hitchcock (1903-1987) and Johnson, whereupon both phrase and design idiom gained currency. In the preface to this influential book, Alfred H. Barr Jr (1902-1981), the first director ofMoMA, provides the following description: "The distinguishing aesthetic principles of the International Style as laid down by the authors are: emphasis upon volume - space enclosed by thin planes or surfaces as opposed to the suggestion of mass and solidity; regularity as opposed to symmetry or other kinds of obvious balance; and lastly, dependence upon the intrinsic elegance of materials, technical perfection and fine proportions, as opposed to applied ornament. " (Hitchcock and Johnson, 1932; 1995: 29) The Smithsons (1981: 9) add the following characteristics: "a) cubic, or appeared to be carved out of cubes; b) geometrically organized and highly abstract in its interpretation of human activities; c) a complete thing in itself; d) was poised, not rooted to its site; e) was usually white or brightly coloured, or made of shiny materials; f) natural materials, when used, appear to be substitutes for artificial materials not yet invented." 3 With reference to the utterances by the proponents of Constructivism and the Neue Sachlichkeit. See Kahn-Magomedov, S., 1987, Pioneers ofSoviet Architecture - The Search for New Solutions in the 1920s and 1930s, trans. Lieven, A. (New York: Rizzoli); and Frampton, K., 1980, Modern Architeture: A Critical History (London: Thames & Hudson), 130-141. 4 An extract from an undated letter Oud wrote to Bruno Zevi and of which this translation appears in Benevola, L., 1971. The History ofModern Architecture. Vol. 2 (Cambridge, Mass.: MlT Press), 20. 7 1.4 THE VILIFICATION OF THE MODERN MOVEMENT The unprecedented political interference during the early 1930s in all fields of creative expression by both Stalin and Hitler 6 - although approached from diametrically opposed ideological positions dampened the initial fervour of a unifying, contemporaneous architectural language. It was only after the Second World War that the theoretical postulates of the Heroic Modernists found large-scale implementation. 7 Due to its functionalist tenets and sustained emphasis on standardization and prefabrication, modern architecture was adopted as the most economically-viable solution to the dire need for built structures arising from the devastation ofwar. However, the enthusiastic reception of Modernism was short-lived. This was, foremost, as a result of the perception that its design repertoire was restricting and creatively inhibiting. Even Le Corbusier modified his own modernist vocabulary as early as 1930, and more radically after the Second World War. Towards the end of his career, Le Corbusier's expanded architectural inventory included surface embellishment, tactile modulation and a resort to biomorphic analogies. The design of La Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp (1954), represents the most fundamental deviation from his so-called "5 Points d'une Architecture Nouvelle", published at the zenith of Heroic Modernism in Almanach d'Architecture Modeme in 1925/6. Moreover, and contrary to expectations, the assumption (based on the socialist idealism of the 1920s) that a univalent architectural application would produce a satisfactory and hygienic built environment proved horribly naive. The socially-inspired architecture also lost its appeal as a result of the middle-class afiluence experienced in both Western Europe and the USA. Ironically, the functionalist premise was exploited for capitalistic purposes, and was soon equated with minimum quality and maXimum profit. The urban utopia became a grim reality, impinging increasingly on the quality of human life. In the words ofFrampton (1980: 9): "[Modern] architecture has, of course, played a [substantial] role in the impoverishment of the environment - particularly where it has been instrumental in the rationalisation of both building types and methods, and where the material finish and the plan form have been reduced to their lowest common denominator, in order to make production cheaper and to optimize use. " The disenchantment displayed by the second generation of modern architects towards the utopian rhetoric of their predecessors culminated in the dissolution of the vanguard of Modernism - the 6 According to Brown, M., 1991, Art Under Stalin (Oxford: Phaidon), 27, Lenin never took kindly to the "absurd and perverted taste of Futurist [modem] art". However, it was Stalin who finally outlawed all forms of modem expression on 23 April 1932. Antagonism towards Modernism - labelled Bolshevik art - had been a consistent feature of Hitler's speeches during the 1920s, but Nazi cultural policy only became official in 1929. The so-called Kampjbund fiir Deutsche Kultur aimed at eradicating all traces of Modernism, and promoted Germanic art and culture. The Bauhaus, in particular, had been under severe attack ever since its inception and was finally forced to disband on 19 July 1933. The "Degenerate Art Exhibition", hosted in Munich in 1937, served as the most vivid demonstration against Modernism. Hochman, E., 1989, Architects ofFortune: Mies van der Rohe and the Third Reich (New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson), 295, states that 1 400 artists and more than 17 000 works of art were declared degenerate. These were promptly confiscated and severe penal measures were implemented. 7 Although most of the earliest examples of modem architecture were of a domestic scale and patronized by courageous individuals, some larger projects were built prior to the Second World War. The most notable included the housing developments at Liege (1924/5) and Pessac (1925) by Le Corbusier; Kiefhoek Housing, Rotterdam (1925), by Oud; the Bauhaus Complex, Dessau (1926), by Gropius and Neufert; the Zonnestraal Sanatorium (1928), Hilversum, by Bijvoet and Duiker; and the Narkomfin Apartments, Moscow (1929), by Ginzberg. -g Congres International d'Architecture Moderne (ClAM) - in 1959,8 and countering initiatives by Team X and like-minded dissidents. Although Le Corbusier had expanded his purist design repertoire long before, the desecration of his utopian visions caused him severe anguish. In a letter, assumed written to the governing committee of the ClAM in response to the Dubrovnik convention of 1956, Le Corbusier laments: "It is those who are now forty years old, born around 1916 during wars and revolutions, and those then unborn, now twenty five years old, born around 1930 during the preparation for a new war and amidst a profound economic, social, and political crisis, who thus find themselves in the heart of the present period, the only ones capable of feeling actual problems, personally, profoundly, the goals to follow, the means to reach them, the pathetic urgency of the present situation. They are in the know. Their predecessors no longer are, they are out, they are no longer subject to the direct impact of the situation." (Frampton, 1980: 271-272) The discrediting of the pioneering initiatives of the Heroic Modernists continued relentlessly during the 1960s and 1970s, exacerbated by the Middle-Eastern energy crisis. The proliferation of literature that questioned both the integrity and intentions of the Modem Movement - most notably Robert Venturi's Complexity and Contradictions in Architecture (1966), Brent Brolin's The Failure of Modern Architecture (1976), Peter Blake's Form Follows Fiasco (1977) and even the audacious Learning from Las Vegas (1972) by the Venturi couple - bears testimony to the general state of despair, disillusionment and confusion that prevailed in the architectural arena for close on two decades. The anti-modernist campaign amplified, respectively, the commitment to elitist preoccupations despite socialist pretensions; technological shortcomings committed in the name of rationality and utility; the general disregard for both human and natural resources; the insensitivity displayed towards historical fabric; and the ignorance of human behaviour. Although, Brutalism and the idiosyncratic Neo-Expressionism, exemplary of the 1950s, managed to resuscitate some creative energy, no one could anticipate the radical design alternatives that were introduced from the 1960s onwards. These included: the celebration of a technological consumerism and the design of so-called mega-structures; 'high-tech' explorations that extended the visions of the Bauhaus contingents, but realized via sophisticated detailing and sustained by free-market enterprise; the investigation of 'alternative' and ecologically sensitive technologies; the appraisal of vernacular endeavour, the call for the rejuvenation of the built environment and the fostering of an architectural contextualism; the encouragement of user-participation and the reconciliation of an architectural elitism with popular culture; and the investigation into the communicative potential (or semiotic properties) of architecture that culminated in a revived eclectic historicism. In all these instances the objectives were to counter the much-debated failures of the Modem Movement, develop an alternative design repertoire that would imbue the built environment with a measure of visual vibrancy, and restore the integrity of architecture per se. The dramatic implosion of the Pruitt Igoe Housing Estate, St. Louis, Missouri, at 3.32 pm, 15 July 1972, symbolized the supposed death ofModernism - albeit somewhat prematurely. 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 The tenth and last official CLAM convention was held at Dubrovnik in 1956, but was followed by another meeting hosted at Otterlo in 1959. This later meeting signalled the demise of CLAM, whereafter Team X dominated all further initiatives hosted during the I960s. 9 With reference to Jencks, C., 1977, The Language ofPost-Modern Architecture (New York: Rizzoli), as proclaimed retrospectively. According to Glusberg, 1. (ed.), 1991, "Deconstruction - A Student Guide", UIA Journal of Architectural Theory and Criticism (London: Academy Editions), 9, Philip Johnson had already declared modem architecture "dead" in 1959 at a convention hosted by the American Institute of Architects. Johnson maintained that the Seagram Building, New York, completed in 1958, was its "final product". 9 1.5 NEO-MODERN ALTERNATIVES By the end of the 1970s, it was possible to identify two opposing design approaches that each adopted a specific position with regard to the controversy surrounding modern architecture. It is noteworthy that any semantic oversimplification (an euphemism for style), particularly of contemporary architecture, is prone to contention. However, until time proves them otherwise, the following distinctions and popular terminology have to suffice. "The Presence of the Past", the celebrated theme of the 1980 Venice Biennale, was indicative of the dominant position that Post-Modernism seemed to have assumed. By contrast, the Parisian buildings that materialized through international competition in celebration of the bicentennial of the French Revolution in 1987 signalled a distinct bias towards Late-Modernism (evidently, providing additional impetus for advocating a pluralistic tolerance). Despite the raging anti-modernist campaigns, a contingent of American architects - the so-called New York Five - persisted since the early 1960s in their pursuit of the spatial and formal integrity of the International Style (irrespective of the defection of one of its most eloquent members, Michael Graves, to Post-Modernism in more recent years). The mid-1980s also saw a resurgence of interest in the creative endeavours of the Soviet avant-garde which had never been brought to fiuition. Amidst an increasing disenchantment with the superciliousness of Post-Modernism, the creative exuberance demonstrated by the pioneering Soviet architects found a receptive audience among those who, yet again, were seeking semantic alternatives. The New York Five (also known as the Twenties Revivalists) and the so-called Deconstructivists are of particular relevance to this study. Collectively known as the "Neo-Moderns", they are said to explore, even exploit, the latent potential of the original modern aesthetic. According to Johnson and Wigley (1988: 16), the prevailing neo-modern aesthetic is "one which the Russian avant-garde made available but did not take advantage of". At present, Neo-Modernism is considered to refer to a rebirth, or a revival, of the modern aesthetic, presupposing a "true" assessment of Heroic Modernism. According to Jencks (1988: 32), the prefix "Neo" suggests that the Modernist aesthetic "has lapsed for a period and its revival is accompanied by the statement of a new version of the older philosophy". This is a position that neither Post-Modernism, nor Late-Modernism - according to popular definition - can assume. Since Post-Modernism encourages a reappraisal of historicism within a modern context, it epitomizes the antithesis of orthodox modernist intentions. Its pluralistic design idiom reaffirms this paradox which simultaneously justifies its own validity. By contrast, the Late-Modernists disdain all historical reference. Instead of promoting a revival of modern aesthetic premises, the Late- Modernists resort to a technological extremism and structural innovation, though, without succumbing to any established design precedent. In conclusion, with the exception of the recent neo-modern developments, none of the architectural explorations that followed the Second WorId War were aimed at extending the formal and spatial investigations of the Heroic Modernists. Instead, the modern design repertoire was expanded through a variety of alternative means that were extrinsic to the original aesthetic intentions of the Modern Movement, and to which even its pioneering proponents had contributed. In view of the resuscitation of the aesthetic precepts of Heroic Modernism, it can be concluded that its design repertoire was never as creatively restrictive as was assumed. Moreover, Heroic Modernism can be explored and be expanded upon without adhering to a particular political or ideological disposition. 10 1.6 ACADEMIC INTENT A Contemporary Assessment of the Genesis of the Modem Aesthetic - The Impact ofModem Art on Modem Architecture. This thesis aims at a historical review of the genesis of the modem aesthetic, re-assessing the impact of modem art on the heroic period of modem architecture. The term "modem aesthetic" refers to the abstract formalism, unique space-time dimension, and corresponding tectonic innovations that evolved from artistic experimentation. This study is premised on the following principal arguments: 1. The visual arts provide a plausible model for tracing the evolution of architecture. 2. The depiction of pictorial depth coincides with, and even pre-empts, the expression of plastic space. 3. Modem art - Cubism, in particular - was the seminal influence on the codification of a modem architectural vocabulary. 4. The increasing preoccupation with utilitarian tenets obscured and ultimately undermined the semantic significance ofHeroic Modernism that was derived, conclusively, from the visual arts. The presupposition that modem art exerted a considerable impact on the crystallization of early 20th century architecture is by no means an exclusive point of view. Most scholars of architecture acknowledge this symbiotic relationship, but few elaborate on this premise. In a recent collection of essays, published as Architecture and Cubism (1997: 1), editors Eve Blau and Nancy Troy point out: "It is the one of the central, if largely untheorized, tenets of the history of modem architecture that cubism [modern art] forged a vital link between avant-garde practices in early twentieth-century painting and architecture." Peter Collins rightfully remarks in Changing Ideals in Modem Architecture 1670-1950 (1965; 1998: 278) that the "precise nature of the [artistic] influence is so complex that it demands more than a cursory examination", but he, too, did not provide substantial supporting evidence in this regard. Generally-speaking, De Stijl is the one architectural initiative that is consistently singled out as exemplary of this corresponding relationship. This is obviously due to the striking similarities between neo-plastic compositions of Piet Mondria[a]n (1872-1944) and the earlier architectural realizations of Rietveld. Significantly, and despite Le Corbusier's incessant reference to the exploratory role of his artistic output, this seminal influence on his architecture is an aspect conspicuously underestimated or entirely overlooked by academics reviewing his work. But for scant reference and rare exceptions, 10 Le Corbusier's artistic and architectural accomplishments are examined independently by art historians and architectural theorists alike. In the essay "Structure and Play in Le Corbusier's Art Work" (1996: 4) - a synopsis of a doctoral study based on Le Corbusier's paintings after 1940 - Jamie ColI shares this authors opinion: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10 One of the few publications encountered in this regard is ReicWin, B., 1997, "Jeanneret-Le Corbusier, Painter-Architect", in Blau, E. and Troy, N., Architecture and Cubism (Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture), 195-218. 11 "Le Corbusier's artIstic production ... remains largely unknown and its relation to the architecture and urban projects has not adequately been explored ... There are few critical studies of Le Corbusier's work as an artist. Twentieth century art historians such as Giedion, Summerson, Banham, Rowe and Slutzky, von Moos, 1. Petit, and Tafuri and Dal Co make occasional reference to the paintings, but while acknowledging the importance of the work they found it difficult to determine the relation between the paintings and the architecture. " Modem Soviet architecture serves as another case in point. Not only did all the pioneering architectural movements in the USSR between 1919 and 1932 evolve from intent artistic experimentation, but the justification sought in a social utilitarianism invalidated the significance of the originating aesthetic precedent. Of late, the historiography of modem architecture is posited on technological, socio-political, philosophical or semiotic tenets and to a far lesser extent on artistic premises. The notable exception is Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth ofa New Tradition (1941; 1967: 436) by Sigfried Giedion (1888-1968) - the one architectural historian to acknowledge most comprehensively the seminal artistic influence on the genesis of Heroic Modernism, specifically regarding Cubism and its "self-conscious enlargement of perceiving space". In this work, Giedion (ibid.) states explicitly that he only refers to "contemporary movements in art ... only so far as their methods are directly related to the space conceptions of our period, and in order to understand the common background of art, architecture and construction". On the authority ofBlau and Troy (1997: 2), Henry-Russell Hitchcock'sPainting Toward Architecture of 1948 was the only publication until the 1960s (assuming in English) that dealt exclusively with the connection between modem art and modem architecture. Unlike Giedion, Hitchcock ascribed the impacting role of modem art to the derivatives - instead of the spatial significance - of Cubism. Blau and Troy also cite Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky in this regard with their cryptic essays entitled "Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal" (1963, 1971). However insightful, their efforts were highly selective and largely a means to access the complex and ambiguous spatial readings of Le Corbusier's purist architecture. Rowe's and Slutzky's most noticeable impact is evidenced by the work of the New York Five - an aspect, according to Blau and Troy, that begs investigation. Although all the mentioned authors acknowledged the facilitating role of Cubism on the semantic development of Heroic Modernism, none provided an in-depth review of this remarkable artistic movement, which, in this author's opinion, accounts for their relatively limited conclusions. By way of example, consider Banham's remark (1960a; 1996: 153) that "a direct influence of Cubism on architecture ... is hard to find, and attempts to compare buildings of the 'International Style' with Cubist paintings, particularly those done in 1909-12 in Paris, are never very convincing". Or the somewhat dismissive comment by Collins (1965; 1998: 278) that it "would be an exaggeration to assume that the original Cubism of Picasso had any direct and immediate influence on architecture ... Cubism, in fact was only of direct importance to architecture because it was developed by Le Corbusier into 'Purism"'. Amidst the ant-modernist debates of the 1960s and 1970s, theoretical discourse disengaged further from the impacting role of the artistic precedent as other design considerations intensified. In the preface to the 1967 edition of Space, Time and Architecture (xxxii) even Giedion acknowledged the "fatigue" that had infested the architectural arena: "In the sixties a certain confusion exists in contemporary architecture, as in painting; a kind of a pause, even a kind of exhaustion. Everyone is aware of it. Fatigue is normally accompanied by uncertainty, what to do and where to go. Fatigue is the mother of indecision, opening the door to escapism, to superficialities of all kinds ... many designers who had adopted the fashionable aspects of the 'International Style' now found that the fashion had worn thin ... " 12 However, in view of the prevailing neo-modem genre, it is not surprising to find a preoccupation with the aesthetic intentions of the pioneering Modernists - an enthusiasm that spawned, foremost, the ardent interest in the creative endeavours of the Soviet avant-garde of the 1920s. The mentioned anthology of essays edited by Blau and Troy, and initiated by the Canadian Centre for Architecture, is the most recently published account on Cubism and modem architecture. This work comprises a collection of critical appraisals that not only re-assert Giedion's presuppositions, but also contest those ofRowe and Slutzky. Although cognizance is taken of these challenging points of view, this thesis attempts a discursive approach to the much-needed review of the artistic influences on Heroic Modernism. In contrast to Blau and Troy, Cubism per se is considered too narrow a definition to conduct such a study since it was its derivatives, as Hitchcock had rightfully observed, that spawned architectural equivalents hence the generic qualification "modem art". With respect to Banham's canonical study, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age of 1960, less consideration is given to Futurism than to the tectonic implications of futurist sculpture and its impacting role on the architecture of the pioneering Soviet Modernists. Significantly, and indicative of the time of publication, Banham did not pursue the connection between Futurism (or Cubism, for that matter) and modem Soviet architecture - an aspect which this study attempts to address. This thesis also differs from all the mentioned authors insofar as it adopts the depiction of pictorial depth as the paradigm for tracing the symbiotic relationship between the visual arts and architecture. 1.7 THEORETICAL STRATEGY In order to conduct this interdisciplinary inquiry and contextualize the genesis of both modem art and modem architecture, this study commences with a brief reflection on the classic aesthetic. The chapter entitled "The Classical Ideal of Beauty" highlights the normative creative aspirations based on Pythagorean numerology and Platonic doctrine that dominated, intermittently, the aesthetic debate in the West for centuries. This chapter also serves as a preamble to the antithetical position adopted by modem artists and architects with regard to the stifling classic aesthetic ideal - albeit to a varying degree. This is followed by a chronological account of the alternating cognitive perceptions of space that not only manifest in the manner in which pictorial depth is communicated, but also in the expression of plastic space. This particular chapter, "The Cogno-Perception of Space", establishes the framework for the self-conscious reversal to the aspectival mode of pictorial rendering and its far-reaching implications in the architectural arena. The chapter entitled "The Mechanization of Vision" acknowledges the catalytic role of the Industrial Revolution on the appropriation of a contemporaneous design idiom, but advances the theory that the ultimate rejection of the classic aesthetic had resulted from the advent of photography. In support, this chapter reviews the changes in aesthetic perception that had resulted from the visual revolution in the fine arts arena, contextualizing also the genesis of Cubism. In order to assess the seminal role of modem art on the codification of a modem architectural vocabulary, the chapter entitled "Cubism" discusses this artistic phenomenon in depth. Attention is given to the various influences on the realization ofLes Demoiselles d'A vignon, the conclusions drawn from this seminal painting, the sequential development of Cubism, and its global assimilation. The chapter entitled "The Pictorial Derivatives of Cubism" introduces those painterly initiatives that spawned architectural equivalents. In view of the fact that Purism was the only cubist derivative that did not progress through an interim volumetric stage before materializing in architectural formM 13 attention is directed towards its genesis before pursuing the volumetric transformation of Cubo-Futurism, Suprematism and Neo-Plasticism in further chapters. In view of the dearth of scholarly investigations into the impact of Le Corbusier's artistic production on his architecture, the chapters entitled "'After Cubism': Purism" and "The Correspondence between Purist Art and Purist Architecture" address this shortcoming. The first component reviews Purism in relation to the cubist precedent, examines purist aesthetic theory and provides a chronological account of Le Corbusier's purist paintings. The second component assesses thematically the correlation between purist art and purist architecture. Both the chapters entitled "The Volumetric Transformation of Cubo-Futurism: The Soviet Avant-Garde" and "The Tectonic Incarnation of Astract Art: De Stijl" continue the investigation into the transmogrification of modem art via the cubist precedent. Specific attention is given to the then-pervading socio-political circumstances and the consequences of the functional design rationale on the aesthetic precepts derived from the visual arts. This thesis is concluded with an assessment of the adopted presuppositions and a reflection on the longer-term objectives if this study. 1.8 DELINEATION AND CLARIFICAnONS 1.8.1 The architectural component of this study is restricted to Purism, De Stijl and the reuvre of the Soviet avant-garde - Constructivism in particular - as it is felt that these initiatives demonstrate best the symbiotic relationships between modem art and modem architecture. Certainly Maison Cubiste, the earliest architectural response to the visual revolution in the fine arts and designed by Raymond Duchamp-Villon (1876-1918) in 1912, is of historic significance. Despite David Cottington's recent attempt to draw attention to the socio-political factors t~at informed the project's realization in "The Maison Cubiste and the Meaning of Modernism in Pre-1914 France" (1997: 17-40), one has to side with both Banham (1960a; 1994: 203) and Yve-Alan Bois that Maison Cubiste did not convey remotely the spatial and plastic revelations of Cubism. To quote Bois from his essay entitled "Cubistic, Cubic and Cubist" (1997: 187): "I see nothing cubist, for example, but nothing at all, in Duchamp-Villon's celebrated Maison Cubiste. And although I have very limited knowledge of it, I would say the same of the so-called 'cubist' architecture ofPrague. " Bois's views on the forty-odd buildings designed in a cubist mode by the proponents of the Czechoslovakian Group of Plastic Architects finds corroboration in Irena Z. Murray's remark in "The Burden of Cubism: The French Imprint on Czech Architecture, 1910-1914" (1997: 42) that "the thornier question of how Czech architecture related to the spatial explorations of cubism in French and Czech painting remains only partially formulated". Murray (ibid.) ascribes this to the fact that "many existing personal documents of such 'cubist' architects as Pavel Janak and Vlastislav Hoffman, in particular, have not been fully explored". Despite this conviction, scrutiny of the Czech's extraordinary body of work 13 reveals that it neither exceeded beyond a prismatic formal treatment, nor matched the anticipatory content of supportive writing on the spatial consequences of Cubism - hence their exclusion from this study. The same scenario pertains to the crystallized, glass architecture propogated by the so-called Utopian Correspondents of the German Expressionists, particularly by Taut. Although the origins of the fragmented and transparent qualities of their projects can in all probability be traced to Cubism, Expressionism also falls outside the scope of this investigation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13 Refer to the most extensive documentation in this regard by Von Vegesack, A (ed.), 1992, Czech Cubism; Architecture Furniture and Decorative Arts 1910-1925 (New York: Princeton Architectural Press). 14 1.8.2. The distinction between "Heroic (Orthodox) Modernism", the "Modern Movement", the "International Style" and "modern architecture" is deliberate. i) "Heroic Modernism" is designated to the body ofwork produced, predominantly in Europe, between 1917 and 1933. The denotation is derived from the book The Heroic Period ofModern Architecture (1981) by Alison and Peter Smithson, of which the first extracts were published in the British journal Architectural Design in December 1965. These authors consider the work by individuals such as Peter Behrens (1868-1940), Loos and Wright - although catalytic - as a prelude to the actual heroic phase. They maintain that this particular period commenced with the inception of De Stijl in 1917 and concluded with the completion of the cinema De Handelsblad-Cineac, Amsterdam, by Johannes Duiker (1890-1935) in 1934. Their selection of projects demonstrating this so-called heroic phenomenon warranted the following comment that "we are looking for is a building which is so different from those which preceded it as to establish a new architecture as fact, not as a possibility" (1981: 9). However, the year" 1933" is considered a more appropriate culminating date since it coincided with the official closure of the Bauhaus - one year after Stalin had outlawed all forms of modernist expression in the Soviet Union. ii) The "Modern Movement" encompasses the pioneering, though divergent, schools of thought that were all ardently committed to give architectural expression to the so-called Machine Age. Such a distinction excludes Art Nouveau and its various derivatives, and includes the following: the Deutsche Werkbund and Bauhaus-affiliate, Futurism, Expressionism, Purism, Volumetric Suprematism, Soviet Rationalism, Constructivism, the Neue Sachlichkeit, De Stijl and Czech Cubism. In most of these instances, their design intentions and ideological dispositions were either communicated in manifesto format, or via some literary review. With the notable exception of the work and theories ofWright, the majority of other architectural initiatives that materialized elsewhere during this particular period can be considered part of the globalization of the. Modern Movement. Although often original in the manner of interpretation or application, these design enterprises were based on canons that had already been established - as was the case with Italian Rationalism, the French L'Effort Moderne, the Hungarian MA Group, the Belgian Sept Arts, the German G Group and the South African Zero Hour initiative. iii) The term "International Style" refers to the so-called cubist mode of architecture that demonstrated a coherent range of characteristics as described by Hitchock and Johnson in The International Style: Architecture Since 1922, published in 1932. iv) "Modern architecture" is a generic, though ambiguous, denotation that applies to architectural manifestations not derived from any historical precedent. Strictly speaking, its inception can be extended to Art Nouveau in 1872 and concluded with the dissolution of the CLAM in 1959. Inevitably, it includes the expansive range of design alternatives that emerged after the heroic period of Modernism. Although numerous buildings excecuted after 1959 can still be considered conclusively 'modern', they need to be reviewed in relation to the 1960s when radical conceptual premises were developed to counter the earlier initiatives that responded, explicitly, to the industrial paradigm. 1.8.3 The same difficulties that pertain to the delineation of modern architecture apply to the generic reference "modern art". The inception of modern art is generally accredited to the painting Le Dejelll1er sur l'Herbe of 1863 by Edouard Manet (1832-1883). However, the consecration of modern art is ascribed to the reversal to the aspectival mode of visual communication as demonstrated by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) in Les Desmoiselles d'Avignon of 1907. 15 1.8.4 The following artistic terms require clarification: i) The term "visual art" refers to all artistic expression experienced through sight. Although architecture is sometimes included, the denotation, for the purposes of this thesis, refers only to fine arts and sculpture. ii) The term "fine art" gained currency during the early 19th century to distinguish between non-utilitarian, aesthetic pursuits and other art forms associated with the manufacture or decoration of utilitarian artefacts. According to Frayling and Van der Meer (1992: "Key Definitions", 19.): "Today,its most cryptic definition comes in, of all places, American customs and excise documents; a work of art should be completely 'useless' to count as fine art." Fine art qualifies as so-called art for art's sake derived from the French phrase l'art pour l'art, coined in 1880 by Victor Cousin - implying that it exists purely for its own benefit. For the purposes of this thesis, the term will be used with reference tothe pictorial arts - drawing, painting, lithography, and so forth - in order to distinguish these from sculpture. iii) The term "plastic art" refers to those art forms that require moulding or modelling, but is often usedto distinguish the visual arts from literary and musical pursuits. Adherents ofDe Stijl and Le Corbusierfrequently used the term to draw attention to the similarities between the visual arts and architecture.For the purposes of this thesis, the term refers specifically to sculpture and architecture. 1.8.5 The nature of the investigations into the three selected aesthetic initiatives - Purism,Constructivism and De Stijl - depended on the circumstances surrounding each particular movement, coupled with the ease with which the connection between art and architecture could be made. Due tothe complexity of Purism and the dearth of information on Le Corbusier's painterly career, his oeuvreis examined most extensively. 1.9 EDITORIAL CONVENTIONS 1.9. 1 Le Corbusier will be consistently be referred to by his pseudonym in order to distinguish his efforts from those of his cousin and partner, Pierre Jeanneret. 1.9.2 The capitalization of denotations haunts any study of this nature. Moreover, according to current editorial conventions - and notable exceptions (i.e., Modem Movement, Gothic Revival) capitalization does not apply in qualifYing instances (i.e., Modernism vs modem architecure, Cubism vs cubist painting). However, for the sake of consistency, the titles of movements in art and architecture,ideological dispositions, books, paintings and buildings are capitalized throughout the thesis including foreign titles. Any deviation reflects the preference of a particular author. All other conventions comply with the 8th edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (1996). 1.9.3 The dating of the respective architectural movement comply with Frampton, K., 1980, ModemArchitecture: A Critical History (London: Thames & Hudson). The dating of art movements concurs with Stangos, N. (ed.), 1991 ed., Concepts ofModem Art (London: Thames & Hudson). 1.9.4 Discrepancies in the spelling of names and surnames were encountered, particularly with regardto Eastern Europeans. These have been anglicized. 1.9.5 In addition to Notes and References, refer to the Glossary for further clarification of concepts orterms not referred to elsewhere in the text. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2:3= O·6G6 l.bIB: I" 0.6/8 d - 0.048 .. « 0.6/8 {:3-0.GG6 ... J:S·O.6 5:8-0.6ZS 8:13~O.615 ------"0," .. ' \'0, I----------j----- I I I I I I I I I I I I 2.2 Geometrical equivalents of musical harmonies and corresponding Golden Section proporti ons. CHAPTER 2 2.1 PREFACE 16 THE CLASSICAL IDEAL OF BEAUTY The quest for codifying an industrially responsive architectural vocabulary coincided with the dismissal of past design premises. The anti-historicist position adopted by the pioneering modem architects violated, in particular, the classical canons ofbeauty. For the purpose of contextualizing the genesis of the modem aesthetic, a reflection on the classical perception of beauty is considered imperative. The principal objective of this chapter is to define the classical aesthetic in order to emphasize the paradoxical extent to which Modernism materialized as its antithesis. The first part of this chapter qualifies the classical ideal of beauty, followed by a description of the classical design methodology and its reinstatement during the Renaissance. Classicism, in relation to this thesis, pertains to the art and architecture of Graeco-Roman origin that corresponded to the theoretical postulates of the ancient Greek philosophers. 2.2 INTRODUCTION The bipolar dualities that characterize our eartWy existence and the complementary opposites that verifY the validity of both the self and the other, must have been recognized since the dawn of Man. This recognition not only precipitated the moral and ethical dilemmas posed by life versus death and good versus evil, but also aesthetic appreciation. The value judgement inherent in the identification of beauty (versus ugliness) must have stimulated Man's passionate yearning for its attainment - with beauty qualified as the emotional sensation from which human senses derive pleasure. Man's predisposition to the intentional manipulation of sensory stimuli can be traced to the earliest manifestations of civilization and extends to all the diverse forms of creative expression, including the design ofbuildings. Ever since the extension of architectural decision-making beyond pragmatic dictates, designers have been wrestling with the formulation of a fundamental set of principles that would govern aesthetic consideration. Our indebtedness to the ancient Greek philosophers stems from the impetus they provided for the formulation of an aesthetic criterion and corresponding design methodology that served as the dominant, Western, premise for architecture until the latter half of the 19th century. Bruno Zevi (1957: 20) is ofthe opinion that "Without a language we cannot speak, yet in the course of centuries only one architectural language had been codified, that of classical architecture". 2.3 THE LEGACY OF ANCIENT GREECE 2.3.1 The Decoding of Nature Beauty as a philosophical concept is not only concerned with what it is, but also with how to create or recreate it, and with the criteria that should be applied in determining its authenticity. The classical perception of beauty is attributed to the discovery by Pythagoras (c. 571-496 B.C.) of the correlation between the pitch of a sound and the physical divisions of the strings of a musical instrument, which could be translated into numerical terms (fig. 2.1). The recognition that an amicable agreement of sound (harmony) is produced by certain mathematical relationships (versus the dissonance, or discord, that results from others) led to the aesthetic axiom that sensory satisfaction can be ascribed to specific algebraic ratios (fig. 2.2). 3 4 B A c c ., i;, 'Ilri11tOtt4 VJTRVV\II,s IN THr. TROAD T T I I I I ilI ~I I , e .. ~ ; j ~0 ~ , I~ I I I .... l .~ --'r"'" 1 ...... --..u:l ............................. ............ ; ...~,~ .. 4.4 Visionary architecture: Ettienne-Louis Boullee (1728-1799), Newton Cenotaph, project (1784). 4.5 Visionary architecture: Claude-Nico1as Ledo (1736-1806), Shelter for the Rural Guards, project (c. 4.6 Eclectic Neo-Gothicism: Johan Nash (1752-1835), Brighton Pavilion, Sussex (1815). 4.7 Neo Classicism: J.F. Palgrin (g.v.), Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile (1836). 41 4.5 STYLISTIC DISSENT The aesthetic duality that prevailed in the visual arts was as pronounced in the architectural arena and ignited a stylistic dissension that lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. It is not surprising that the first recorded architectural polemic to challenge the catechisms of Classicism concurred with the genesis of the Enlightenment. Moreover, the theoretical preoccupation with design antecedents and formal archetypes during the 18th century was indicative of an architectural introspection yielded by techno-scientific advances and radically altered socio-political circumstances. The subsequent review and ultimate purification of the classical design idiom - manifested in the plethora of antique revival styles - was partly an architectural interpretation of rationalist philosophy, and partly a response to the volatile political climate that had equated the opulence of Rococo with the decadence of the Ancien Regime. Concurring with the visual arts, romantic sentiments spawned, on the one hand, the generation of visionary architects (jigs 4.4-4.5) and, on the other hand, the reappraisal of Gothicism after centuries of neglect. The Gothic Revival was not only dominant in the United Kingdom where the impact of the Industrial Revolution was most evident, but also in Northern European countries that were coming of age. Die-hard supporters of Classicism continued to dismiss Gothicism as frivolous and emotive. They were adamant that because of the supposedly cosmological origins of Classicism, its aesthetic principles remained universally applicable - irrespective of programme, time or place. By contrast, it was exactly the spiritual properties of Gothicism that appealed to romantic and reformist sensibilities, since Classicism was, after all, of pagan origin. As Gothicism was intrinsically a Northern European phenomenon, it embodied the nationalist pride that swept through those countries at the time. Viollet-le-Duc's declaration that Gothicism epitomized rational design decision-making was an additional challenge to classical preconceptions. All these mentioned factors contributed to the stylistic rivalry that continued to haunt the quest for an architectural appropriation that would meet contemporaneous techno-scientific demands and corresponding societal expectations. The industrial Zeitgeist fell short of any form of ethical reconciliation and amplified instead the prevailing stylistic dilemma (jigs 4.6-4.7). The creative impetus engendered by a new means of aesthetic expression could not have been more timely. 4.6 THE ADVENT OF PHOTOGRAPHY The mammoth influence of the advent of photography (from the early 1820s but commercially available from 1851 6) on the reappraisal of art not only radically transformed the aesthetic debate, but rendered irrelevant the mentioned stylistic disputes. Although preceded by the camera obscura, the concept of permanently capturing the momentarily was only actively investigated from the beginning of the 19th century. Despite the fact that the first photographs were reproduced in black and white, it was merely a matter of time before colour was introduced. Research commenced in 1873 and colour photography became commercially available in 1906. It is obvious that photography, as the most concrete evidence of visual observation, would have impacted so profoundly on the visual arts, since both the merit and the credibility of Western art had for centuries been defined in terms of mimetic reproduction and optical accuracy. Dunning (1991: 119) notes: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 The claim of the authorship of photography is contentious. According to the New Encyc/opr.edia Brittanica (1985 ed.: "Photography", vol. 25), the Frenchman Joseph Niepce is said to have produced the first photographic image in 1822. He, together with another Frenchman, one L. J. M. Daguerre, refined the process and made it public in 1839, whereupon an Englishman, W. H. F. Talbot, claimed that he had produced the first photograph. However, Talbot's experimentations were conducted only from 1834. 42 "The Renaissance system of illusion [perspective] convinced an entire civilization that itpossessed an infallible method of representation, a system for the automatic and mechanicalproduction of truths about the material and the mental worlds." [Emphasis added by author.] Never before, even during the iconoclast movement, had the essence of art been threatened to this extent. Neither had the validity of art, nor the legitimacy of its pursuit previously been questioned, let alone been jeopardized. Evidently, French romantic painter Paul Delaroche remarked in response tothe advent of photography: "From today painting is dead" (Copplestone, 1985: 15). The artists of the mid-19th century had only two options: they could either adopt a defeatist attitude and render the pursuit of art obsolete, or they could use the opportunity to liberate themselves fromthe constraints of classical aesthetic doctrines and impositions - which they did. Various art historians have been encountered who do not share this author's enthusiasm forphotography as the pivotal influence on the genesis of modem art. By way of example, the LarousseEncyclopedia ofModern Art (1967 ed.: 150-154) mentions photography only in passing, and ascribesinstead the radical artistic metamorphosis to the discovery of new sources of energy and speed. Arthistorian Kirk Varnedoe (1990: 29-53) acknowledges the important role of photography, but regards, rather unconvincingly, human initiative as the primary incentive for the sudden bouts of creativity.Herchell Chipp (1968: 7), in turn, reviews the development of modem art in the light of its socio-political milieu. Varnedoe (1990: 15) is particularly sceptical of this so-called contextual approach since he maintains that a political bias often distracts from the unadulterated creativeimpulse. The question that remains is whether 19th century artists would have initiated the revolutionary route of artistic exploration had it not been for the advent of photography. This author maintains that it ishighly unlikely even though the notion of democratic freedom associated with the Enlightenment mindset may have given rise to a greater degree of open-ended artistic portrayal and subjectiveinterpretation. However, this did not occur until after the advent of photography. Another question worth asking is whether the Industrial Revolution was the actual cause of the advent of photography.Could it not have been invented, say, during the Renaissance, and if it had been, would it have altered aesthetic perception to the extent that it did? The answer to this question is more obscure as the enquiring mind has persisted for millenia and the changes brought about by the combination of certain chemicals have intrigued scientists for centuries. Unless the chemical compounds necessary for thephotographic process only materialized during the 19th century - which was not the case - then the advent of photography remains a coincidence in the evolution of mankind and was therefore not a consequence of the Industrial Revolution per se. What cannot be denied is that the art produced in less than two decades after the first public showingof photographs at the Crystal Palace, London, in 1851, was unlike anything ever encountered before.It was the first time in the history of the visual arts that Western artists questioned the necessity ofpainting, the role of art and the legitimacy of naturalistic depiction. It was also the first time thatWestern artists actively investigated alternative means of artistic portrayal. The sudden interest in the creative pursuits of non-Western cultures with their refreshing disregard for life-like representation, serves as the most convincing case in point. Consequently, photography can rightfully be regarded asthe primary incentive for the liberation of the visual arts from antiquated aesthetic dogma. In the course of events, the fine artists were the first to discard classical aesthetic aspirations and tointroduce a radical pictorial inventory of tremendous intellectual, emotional, psychological and,ultimately, plastic implication. 4.8 Henri Fantin-Lataur (1836-1904), Hommage Cl Delacroix (1864). 4.10 Manet, Le Dejeuner sur I'Herbe (1863). 4.12 Manet, Olympia (1863/5). 4.9 Caurbet, Bonjour Monsieur Courbet (1854). 4.11 Ingres, La Grande Odaslique (1814). 4.13 Titian, Venus of Urbino (1538). 43 The resultant artistic experimentations ignited a visual revolution of such magnitude that Western aesthetic perception and appreciation were completely transformed. The creative momentum set in motion a sequence of artistic events which Varnedoe (1990: 16) aptly refers to as the "aesthetic logic" of modem art. 4.7 THE AESTHETIC LOGIC OF MODERN ART Apart from the advent of photography, the second half of the 19th century was an extraordinary fertile - albeit volatile - era due to the immense concentration of intellectual energy. The communist manifesto Das Kapital by Karl Marx (1818-1883) was published in 1848; the "Great Exhibition" of1851 hosted at the magnificent Crystal Palace celebrated man's techno-scientific achievements; CharlesDarwin (1809-1892) challenged the origin of Man; Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)pronounced God dead; Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) introduced a new understanding of humanbehaviour; and Wilhelm Roentgen (1845-1923) discovered X-rays in 1895. The advent of dynamite byAlfred Nobel (1833-1896) - somewhat earlier in 1867 - added additional explosiveness to a relativelyprecarious existence in which neither the political oligarchy, nor its subjects, was entirely certain of what an industrialized future may hold. Barbara Tuchman (1966: 134) describes the restlessness of the mid-19th century as follows: "Industrialization, imperialism, the growth of cities, the decline of the countryside, the power of money and the power of machines, the clenched fist of the working class, the red flag ofSocialism, the wane of the aristocracy, all these forces and factors were churning like bowels of a volcano about to erupt. " Despite the statement made by French poet Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) in "The Painter ofModem Life" (n.d.) that "the duty of the artist would be to express that beauty which is intrinsic to our new emotions" (Russell, 1991: 15), the art produced during the first decade of the mid-19th century remained remote from reality. Artists either sought escape in romantic flights of fantasy or were seemingly oblivious of the dramatic changes in society. Art academies, in particular, continued, eveninto the early 20th century, to encourage and reward those artists that complied with traditional aesthetic conventions (fig. 4. 8).7 Although preceded by French artist Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) with his paintings of commonplace occurrences (fig. 4.9), it was ultimately his contemporary, Edouard Manet (1832-1883), 8 whoinitiated the liberation of Western art from its traditional allegorical position with his supposedly scandalous paintings, Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe (1863,fig. 4.10) and Olympia (1863/5,fig. 4.12). Manet's depiction of the female nude - modelled after Jean-Auguste Ingres (1780-1897,fig. 4.11) andTitian (Tiziano Vecellio, c. 1488-1567, fig. 4.13) - in a contemporaneous context gave the antiquated subject matter a modem sense of actuality. Although the painterly technique still conformed to scholarly conventions, Manet succeeded in making a dramatic statement regarding the outdatedposition that academic painting continued to assume despite radical societal transformations. Sincefemale nudes had previously dominated as goddesses and muses, those depicted by Manet evoked a completely different reading. Manet not only reduced their status to mere mortals, but also drew ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7 The history of modem art is fraught with instances where art academies and salons rejected experimental art, not tomention derogatory journalistic commentary and public demurrals. See Hughe, R. (00.), 1967 ed., LarousseEncyclopedia ofModern Art (London: Hamlyn), 150-154, and Dunning, R., 1991, Changing Images ofPictorial Space -A History ofSpatial J//usion in Painting (New York: Saracuse Univ. Press), 33-34. 8 While most art historians identify Manet as the progenitor of modem art, some cite Courbet in this regard. AlthoughCourbet's painting Bonjour Monsieur Courbet (1854) serves as the first example of the defiance of academically approved subject matter, Manet's Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe, painted some nine years later, was the more challenging andthought-provoking. 4.14 Renoir, The Boating Party Lunch (1881). 4.16 Degas, Cafe Singer Wearing a Glove (1878). 4.18 Seurat, Les Poseuses (1888). 4.15 Degas, Girl Drying Herself (1885). 4.17 Monet, Gare Saint-Lazare (1877). 4.19 Monet, The Waterlily Pond (1899). 44 attention to the changing circumstances, calling implicitly for a review of the traditional role that arthad for so long assumed. The public outrage (Dunning, 1991:33) caused by these two paintings confirmed Manet's pioneering role in extending the role of art beyond the superficIality of narrativedepiction. (Dunning [ibid.] draws attention to how people react when they first experience a powerful new image, which, in hindsight, may not seem so potent to a visually conditioned audience.) Incidentally, this method of superimposition - whereby the cliche is portrayed in a totally unrelated context and consequently evokes a different interpretation - was furthered by Marcel Duchamp(1887-1968) during the 1910s and 1920s, and also by Andy Warhol (1928-1987) in the 1960s when itbecame the embodiment of Pop Art. From this particular point of view, Manet can be regarded as thepredecessor ofPost-Modernism, with his nuqes just as pregnant with meaning as Duchamp's urinal orWarhol's soup cans. It was the courageous step taken by Manet in acknowledging that the role of art had to be expandedfrom being depictive and representational to being communicative and intellectually challenging thatheralded him the progenitor of modem art. Moreover, Manet had indicated that art, instead of being anidealized rendition according to Platonic doctrines, should reflect and respond to the prevailingZeitgeist. (One can of course suggest that Manet's decision to superimpose a nude from antiquity onthe present was a deliberate attempt at defying photography since the latter can only capture the momentary. Trevor Copplestone [1985: 16], however, contends that the painterly experiments conducted by the Impressionists, Neo-Impressionists and Post-Impressionists were far m,ore calculated responses to the advent of photography than in Manet's case.) Manet's example had a significant influence on the younger generation of French artists, most notablyClaude Monet (1840-1926), Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Alfred Sisley(1838-1899), Carnille Pissarro (1830-1903) and Berthe Morisot (1841-1895), who formed the nucleus of the so-called Impressionists. 9 Instead of portraying old themes in new surroundings, latter-day subject matter, such as industrial phenomena and contemporary existence, featured prominently (jigs.4.14-4.17). Copplestone (ibid.: 19) notes: "... the Impressionists abandoned grand Classicism, historical and intellectual subject matterin favour of the commonplace and familiar: everyday scenes and objects ... They made nointellectual comment nor philosophical analysis; they merely observed - acutely the scene they had chosen. " As they renounced musty studio environments to paint en plein air, the Impressionists and the concurrent Neo-Impressionists 10 - pioneered by Georges-Pierre Seurat (1859-1891) - becamefascinated with the diverse possibilities presented by nature; consciously perhaps, developing painterlytechniques to record visual experiences in a way that the camera cannot. Seurat played a seminal rolein this regard with his quasi-scientific studies of the optical effects resulting from iridescent colour combinations (jig. 4.18). The startling effects produced by the novel painterly technique, known as "pointillism", alluded to the fact that pictorial depth could be achieved exclusively through the use ofcolour. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9 The term "Impressionism" was derived from a sarcastic comment made by a French journalist, Louis Leroy, aboutImpression: Sunrise (1872) by Monet, on display at the Salon de Refuses in Paris in 1874. As the term accuratelydescribed the artist's intention to capture the momentary, it gained common currency. 10 Art historians make an academic distinction between the intuitive pictorial experiments of the Impressionists and themore scientifically-orientated colour investigations conducted by the Neo-Impressionists, pioneered by Seurat. From theoutset, Seurat referred to his particular pursuits as "optical painting" - later known as "pointillism" or "divisionism".Refer to the Glossary for further clarification of these painterly terms and techniques. 4.20 Cezanne, Woods with Boulders (1898). 4.22 Van Gogh, Wheat Field with a Lark (1887). 4.24 Gauguin, I hail Thee, Mary (1891). 4.21 Cezanne, Glass and Pears (1882). 4.23 Van Gogh, Se(fPortrait with Pipe and Bandaged Ear (1889). 4.25 Gauguin, Tahitian Women with Mango Blossoms (1899). 45 In the process, and in stark contrast with all previous painterly pursuits, the subject matter - whether natural or man-made - was increasingly regarded as subordinate to the sensations of light and colour.Monet's exquisite studies of colour impressions (jig. 4.19) warranted the comment by Paul Cezanne(1839-1906) that "Monet is only an eye, but what an eye!" (Copplestone, 1985: 21) Although theImpressionists' and Neo-Impressionists' preoccupation with colour partly served to counterphotography's temporary inability to provide colour reproductions, subsequent artists were alerted tothe autonomous role that the rudimentary principles of art could assume. The conceptual potential of Impressionist painting unleashed an unrivalled creative output. Eventhough there exists, as Vandedoe maintains, an uncanny aesthetic logic that underlies the sequentialdevelopment of modem art, the extent to which individual artists contributed to this evolutionaryprocess has to be acknowledged. It was the first time in the history ofWestern art that different artistsimbued the artistic arena with their respective interests and temperaments but, above all, their personal creative instincts. These factors contributed to the highly individualistic and experimental nature of modem art - unique by comparison to any other artistic epoch. The different avenues of explorationpursued by the so-called Post-Impressionists, 11 most notably, Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh(1853-1890) and Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), bear testimony to the diversity of subjective approach. The Post-Impressionists had no common aim apart from extending the artistic repertoire beyond its customary role. In due course, the defiance of photography became less of a concern than the abundant creative possibilities latent in the work of the Impressionists. According to Copplestone(ibid.: 25): "For the leading figures among the Post-Impressionists, it was partly the deficiencies theydiscerned in Impressionism that governed their development. The gravest of thesedeficiencies, in their eyes, was the absence of any emotional statement to match the visualdiscovery - a 'bourgeois' lack of commitment. " In identifying these alleged deficiencies, Cezanne amplified the formal aspects of the object, whereasVan Gogh and Gauguin were more concerned with the emotive and spiritual content of their subject matter. Cezanne continued to return to nature, which he considered the most authentic artisticprecedent (jigs 4.20-4.21). 1:Z Van Gogh emphasized the emotional properties of both the human condition and nature through an unprecedented use of colour and tactile intensification (jigs4.22-4.23). Gauguin, on the other hand, defied all academic conventions in search of artisticinspiration beyond the immediate. As a self-taught artist, Gauguin could give full reign to his creativeimpulses, exploring both the unselfconscious and the subconscious, whereupon imagination - insteadof imitation- was introduced as a fundamental source of artistic inspiration (jigs 4.24-4.25). The artistic exploits of the Post-Impressionists were furthered by the Fauves (1904-1907), theExpressionists (1905-1914), the Futurists (1909-1916), the Dadaists (1916-1922), the Surrealists(1922-1938) and, inevitably, the Cubists (1907-1925). Cubism, in turn, acted as the primary creative ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11 The term "Post-Impressionism" was coined by English art critic Roger Fry (1866-1934) to denote the paintings he hadselected for an exhibition, hosted at the Grafton Gallery in London in 1910/1, which demonstrated a distinct departurefrom the impressionist genre. In addition to work by Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Seurat, Picasso and HenriMatisse (1869-1954) were also represented The diversity in approach identified a period of artistic activity rather than acommon aesthetic goal. It was only after Matisse and Picasso had pursued more specific avenues of artistic exploration,that a more finite academic distinction was made between Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, Post-Impressionism,Fauvism, Cubism, and so forth. It is now generally accepted that Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh were the majorproponents of Post-Impressionism. 12 See Chipp, H. (ed.), 1968, Theories ofModern Art (Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press), 16-23, for selectedexcerpts from letters written by cezanne in which he refers incessantly to nature as the primary source of artisticinspiration. 4.26 Japanese wood-block print: Ando Hiroshigo (g.v.), Plum Estate, Kameido (1857). 4.28 Japanese wood-block print: Hiroshigo, Ushimachi, Takanawa (1857). 4.27 Van Gogh, Japonaiserie: The Tree (1887) 4.29 Degas, Racecourse, Amateur Jockeys (188~ 4.30 Gauguin, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (1897). 46 incentive for every other art movement (including some of the aforegoing) that emerged during the 20th century. However, all the mentioned and subsequent aesthetic initiatives were indebted to Manet and the Impressionists for having extended the artistic narrative way beyond mere imitation. 4.8 TOWARDS THE REAPPRAISAL OF ART Whereas classical aesthetic convictions were based on faith in the veracity of the senses, modem artists modelled their visual intentions on different insights and new experiences, compounded by the advent of photography. The increasing acknowledgement of the painterly surface as a two- dimensional entity was one of the most fundamental aspects of modem art, steadily paving the way towards the self-conscious reversal to the aspectival mode of artistic expression. In the words of Copplestone (1985: 47): "From the Impressionists forward, consciousness of the picture as a surface had been growing. As distortion of forms became increasingly insistent the possibility of viewing the work as a spatial reflection of the visual experience was diminished. At the same time, the surface treatment also became steadily more insistent. " A number of specific sources are cited to have induced the supposed road to flatness, as referred to by Vamedoe (1990: 25). These include Japanese wood-block prints, and ceremonial artefacts from the South Sea Islands and Africa. Although it seems coincidental that these objects only came into general circulation in Europe during the second half of the 19th century, 13 it is doubtful whether they would have captured the attention ofWestern artists to the same extent at any other point in time. The pictorial organization of the Japanese, with their intriguing dramatization of the foreground to create a sense of depth, was pursued most rigorously by Degas 14 and Van Gogh (jigs 4.26-4.29). In turn, the exotic - a remnant of the romantic period - fascinated Gauguin to such an extent that he traded 'civilization' for Tahiti, as much in search of himself as the meaning of art. Gauguin fused exotic subject matter with oriental compositional procedures and gradually sacrificed pictorial depth in favour of symbolical content (jig. 4.30). Gauguin's interests were in due course furthered by the Fauves and Cubists, whereupon African artefacts captured the attention and received wide acclaim. The elicited enthusiasm stemmed from the cues that the unself-conscious provided contemporary aesthetic theory. Since so-called primitive art was totally uncontaminated by any preordained aesthetic doctrines - whether Platonic or religious - it represented the most rudimentary example of creative expression. The classic aesthetic - the epitome of the self-conscious tradition - was founded on the premise of recreating the sensory through illusionary optical conventions, predominantly perspective. With all that thrown in jeopardy by the advent of photography, 19th century artists considered the 13 Laude, 1.,1971; 1973, TheArtsofB/ackAfrica, trans. Dedock, 1. (Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press), 3-6, notes that the first mention of African artefacts in Europe dates from 1470. These became sought-after collectables until the end of the 17th century, whereupon interest waned However, Laude maintains that most of the items collected for so-called curiosity rooms of the nobility were commissioned - predominantly by Portuguese traders - and were excecuted in accordance with European instructions, even conventions. Examples of authentic traditional art were rare and considerable less popular. According to Laude (ibid.: 4), "Traditional art was far more scarce, since the sacred qualities attributed to such pieces by indigenous people made them difficult to purchase. The wooden figures of native art were fragile; their bizarre appearance might also have discouraged collectors or their heirs who would eventually dispose of them. Many must have been lost in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. Only a few works not inspired by Europe remain... " 14 Vamedoe, K., 1990, A Fine Disregard - What Makes Modern Art Modern? (London: Thames & Hudson), 42-53, refers also to how "faulty" photographs with cropped images influenced the painterly compositions of Degas. 47 origin of the creative impulse as the principal starting point for the review and ultimate reappraisa l of art. (This was not dissimilar to the 18th century quest to review the theoretical premises of architecture via formal archetypes.) In due course, the sensory and the manner of its representation, became less of a concern than the notion of art per se. The catch-phrases "to return to point zero" and tabula rasa, frequently used b y art theorists early in the 20th century, embodied the yearning to return to 'the beginning' an d to reappraise the essence of art. Primitive artists, oblivious of perspective and indifferent to life -like representation, indicated that neither the pursuit of art, nor the merit of art, has to rely on, o r be defined in terms of, optical accuracy. Via the example of primitive art, coupled with the pionee ring initiatives of Manet and the Impressionists, the Cubists could systematically evolve a serie s of 'retrogressive' steps towards a completely new means of artistic expression, perception and appreciation. 4.9 SUMMARY Whilst acknowledging the catalytic role of the Industrial Revolution on the appropnatlOn of a contemporaneous architectural idiom, it has been argued that the advent of photography was the principal cause for the ultimate rejection of the classical aesthetic. Cognizance has been taken of the Enlightenment mindset, which, induced as a result of the Newto nian paradigm, culminated in the harnessing of mechanical power and the genesis of industrializa tion. Extensive techno-scientific application exercized an enormous influence on all spheres of hu man endeavour, with profound societa1, political and moral ramifications. The prevailing criticality in the socio-politica1 arena permeated also aesthetic discourse, calling into question the status quo of Classicism. Notwithstanding, all countering architectural and artistic initiatives of the 18th and e arly 19th centuries still conformed to approved academic conventions or familiar design antecedents. In addition, the unprecedented design challenges and typological demands made on the architec tural profession spawned a stylistic dissent that persisted until the beginning of the 20th century. The advent of photography in 1822, but commercially available from 1851, rendered irrelevant all p ast aesthetic disputes. As the most concrete evidence of visual observation, photography countered the classical aesthetic aspiration for mimetic reproduction, challenging the validity of art and the legitim acy of its pursuit. Edouard Manet's pioneering example and the resultant impressionist movement exten ded artistic portrayal beyond narrative depiction, and ignited a visual revolution of tremend ous proportions. The preoccupation with new modes of visual communication stimulated an intere st in primitive art, which taught that the merit of art does not have to be defined in terms of op tical accuracy. This cognition enabled Western fine artists to finally discard classical doctrines and scho larly conventions, and introduced completely new dimensions to the aesthetic disciplines of tremend ous intellectual, conceptual and, ultimately, plastic implication. --------------------- --------------------- --------------------- --------------------- --------------------- --------------- CHAPTERS 48 CUBISM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5.1 PREFACE In view of the assertion that Cubism was the seminal influence on the codification of a modern architectural vocabulary, an in-depth review of this remarkable artistic phenomenon is deemed necessary. This chapter traces the genesis of Cubism and examines the far-reaching conclusions drawn from the most important visual document of the 20th century, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. It also reviews the evolutionary sequence of Cubism and its widespread assimilation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5.2 INTRODUCTION Given the aesthetic metamorphosis of the visual arts during the mid-19th century, it is perplexing that so few contemporary architectural historians acknowledge this persuasive influence on the intensification of an architectural appropriation - generally ascribed to factors extraneous to the radically new artistic genre. Frampton (1980: 68) mentions, almost in passing, how 19th century art contributed to the emergence . of Art Nouveau, particularly discernible in the designs ofBelgian architect Victor Horta (1861-1947): "... the most influential image behind Horta's peculiar 'strapwork' style was the graphic work of the Dutch-Indonesian artist Jan Toroop. This connection underlies the importance of painting in the Belgian Art Nouveau. Toroop was a member of the influential Post-Impressionist group, Les xx, whose later re-formation as La Libre Esthetique was to play a key role in the dissemination of the aims and principles of the English Arts and Crafts movement." In Pioneers of the Modem Movement [Modem Designlfrom William Morris to WaIter Gropius (1936; 1960: 90), veteran architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner provides a more comprehensive account of Toroop's impact on Art Nouveau, which he traces via the Pre-Rahaelites. Inevitably, the undulated, graphic quality of Toroop's designs was far more suitable for architectural interpretation than any efforts by the Impressionists or Post-Impressionists. Although beyond the scope of this study, this latter connection calls for investigation. Notwithstanding, Art Nouveau and its various derivatives did succeed in discarding all vestiges of historicism and eclecticism. But, however novel, its higWy decorative design idiom failed to provide a convincing semantic foundation for a contemporaneous architecture, and was consequently no more than a transitional phase. Yet, it can be no coincidence that Loos's slating critique of Art Nouveau, in addition to the formal simplification evident in his own architecture from 1910, coincided with the pictorial innovations that emerged during the period following the impressionist genre. Even though the sentiments of Expressionism t - the German art movement that materialized concurrently with Cubism - were shared by many architects, the resultant poetic and complex 1 Expressionism - an amalgamation of Die Briicke (1905-1913) and Der Blaue Reiter (1910-1914) - is a problematic aesthetic movement since it never existed as a collective initiative. Neither did its artists have a particular agenda, other than pusuing the emotive propensities of art after the example of the Fauves, the Post-Impressionists and Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863-1944). The expressionist artists were profoundly influenced by Cubism during the early 191Os, hence the plausible correspondece between the work of its architectural component (albeit a retrospective association with Expressionism) and the cubist treatment of fonn. See Glossary for a more comprehesive reference to Expressionism. 49 formalism was not conducive to meeting contemporaneous demands. Rather, the crystallinegeometries and transparent qualities of the architectural component of Expressionism - demonstratedin Taut's work, in particular - recall the faceted formal treatment of Cubism. Giedion (1941; 1967:486) is of the opinion that "the expressionist influence could not perform any service for architecture".Cubism, on the other hand, by the very nature of its semantic denotation, encompassed a distincttectonic quality that coincided with the persuasive rationalistic ethos advocated since the mid-17th century. Banham (1960a; 1996: 203) concurs: "This Cubist tradition was, itself, part of that larger and paradoxical tradition of being anti-traditional, that goes back, in painting, at least to Courbet, parallel with an innovatingtradition in Rationalist architectural thought that goes back to Labrouste. Both traditions were regarded, with varying justification, as anti-Academic, but Cubism, more than anyprevious phase of the pictorial revolution, presented aspects that could be approximated to those ofRationalist architectural theory." In addition, the infectious reductive methodology of Cubism, coupled with its inherent geometricpropensity, provided architecture with a formal analogy and a design point of departure unbeknown inits historical development. Cubism also introduced a radically new aesthetic sensibility that calledimplicitly for a responding architectural equivalent - with. Maison Cubiste designed byDuchamp-Villon in 1912, the first attempt in this regard. 2 More importantly, the cubist-induced space-time paradigm and implied sense of movement heralded incalculable consequences for thethree-dimensional arts, and revoked all previous design premises and preoccupations. Never beforehad an autonomous art movement impacted so significantly on the emergence of new architecturalidiom as did Cubism. Selim Khan-Magomedov (1987: 61) notes: "In the past, architecture had always been the determinant of stylistic change, but it lost thisposition during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This leading role was then for many years taken over by painting, which established tastes in art and aesthetic standards. " In Vers une Architecture (1923; 1987: 19), albeit more than a decade after the genesis of Cubism, LeCorbusier still lamented: "Today, painting has outsped the other arts. It is the first to have attained attunement withthe epoch ... Painters and sculptors, champions of the art of to-day, you who have to bear so much mockery and who suffer so much indifference, let us purge our houses, give your helpthat we may reconstruct our towns. " 5.3 THE GENESIS OF CUBISM Cubism 2 materialized with the proto-cubist painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (jig. 5.17) producedby Picasso in Paris from 1906 to 1907. Certain art historians maintain that the actual cubist idiom was only initiated one year later by his French counterpart, Georges Braque (1882-1963), but ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2 According toWeston, R, 1996, Modernism (London: Phaidon), 70-71, one Andre Mare deployed a team of decorativeartists to create a so-called Maison Cubiste as a setting for the paintings at the seminal Salon d'Automne Exhibition,hosted in Paris in 1912. However, only a model and full-size entrance f" ,'.;". ,{\ ...' . ... . 0,1-... ",. t~ " ~ ,.' o}; 6.29 Van Doesburg, , 0'. -- __ ~r;t;nnc ((' I Q?7'1. ~ I I I J i-·······.'···· ! I .I I . . i ! "1 . :'~ 6.30 Vantongerloo, Red, Yellow, Green: Group y = -ax2 + bx + c; y' = -2ax + b; v = -ax2 + bx + c 81 In the essay "Natural Reality and Abstract Reality" (1919; 1968: 321),14 Mondrian adds: "Modem man ... exhibits a changed consciousness ... The truly modem artist is ... conscious of the fact that the emotion of beauty is cosmic, universal. This conscious recognition hasfor its corollary an abstract plasticism, for man only adheres to what is universal. " Concurring with the aesthetic cosmogony of Plato, the Neo-Plasticists aspired to give expression to a 'higher' creative ideal. According to Allan Doig (1986: 39), an authority on Van Doesburg, these artists considered it their "duty" to "go beyond the accidentals of particular phenomena to the universal content, the 'Platonic' idea". They maintained that a so-called plastic objectivity would be achieved via pre-ordained artistic means, which, in their instance, were restricted to the primary colour range and the orthogonal. Given this limited pictorial arsenal, the hierarchy and distribution ofform, line and colour were of cardinal importance, constituting (as with music) a supposed art of relationships. Their pictorial compositions were considered the incarnation of universal equilibrium, with the attainment of balance and harmony both the objective and content of their endeavours. Inthe words ofDoig (ibid.: 12, 5): "The proper 'subject' of art is art itself, and the elementary means of art - line, form and colour - are not to be used for any other purpose than to reveal harmony and balance within the new art of relationships ... " "[Thus] these purely abstract relationships were for [De Stijl] the only acceptable contentfor art, and as a result the natural subject had to undergo complete 'transformation' to achieve such a 'universalised' aesthetic balance.' " In view of the importance attached to compositional organization, it was inevitable that theNeo-Plasticists would investigate the correspondence between art and music. Unlike Kandinsky andKlee, the emotive propensities of music were far less of a consideration than its mathematicalproperties. Van Doesburg developed elaborate theories on the distribution of colour that were based on classical numerological systems. IS Vantongerloo pursued this mathematical connection most rigorously and even substituted the titles of his paintings (and sculptures) with algebraic equations(jig. 6.30).16 In the final analysis, Neo-Plasticism was a contemporaneous embodiment of Platonic aestheticphilosophy, yielded by prevailing circumstances. However, it transcended the imitative premises ofthe natural precedent and gave a far greater degree of validity to Plato's idealized mathematical andgeometric precepts, specifically with regard to the pictorial arts. Doig (ib;d.: 40) concurs: "The ultimate aim was not to the reproduction of nature, it was to create an image of theIdea, the Absolute Idea. Pure form was the proper content of the work of art; the plastic means of art, colour, line, and plane, were to be used in the revelation of proportion,balance and unity." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14 Originally published as Mondrian, P., 1919, "De Niewe Bee1ding in Schilderkunst", De Stijl, vol. 3, no. 1;translation reprinted in Chipp (ed.), 1968, Theories ofModern Art: 321-325. IS See Doig, A., 1986, Van Doesburg: Painting into Architecture, Theory into Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ.Press), 58-105. 16 Paradoxically, Mondrian was the least convinced of this mathematical procedure and stated that a work of artshould consist of "subjective and objective factors in mutual balance", as cited from Mondrian, P., 1937, "Plastic Artand Pure Plastic Art", Circle; reprinted Chipp (1968: 361). Mondrian (ibid.: 358) even contended that "If he makes artinto an 'algebraic equation', that is no argument against the art, it only proves he is no artist" - in all probability acomment made with reference to Vantongerloo's paintings. 82 Despite the neutrality of the Netherlands, the surrounding chaos and destruction caused by the FirstWorld War contributed significantly to the Neo-Plasticists' commitment to a visual equilibrium that was sought through cosmic and universal means. It is not surprising that comfort was found in the certainties of absolute values rather than the contingencies of the natural, the institutionalized, or the man-induced. In conclusion, De Stijl was not nearly as cohesive as often assumed and its membership was in a constant state of flux. Mondrian parted company in 1925 upon Van Doesburg's audacious insistenceto extend its plastic repertoire by incorporating the diagonal. However trite, Mondrian was notprepared to accept any compromise. He fool-hardy persisted in his univalent commitment to total - if not orthogonal - abstraction, executed consistently in accordance with the consecrated neo-plasticprinciples until his death in 1944. By contrast, the nebulous De Stijl movement ceased to exist longbefore that time as it drew to a close with Van Doesburg's untimely death in 1931. 6.6 PLANIMETRIC CUBISM: SUPREMATISM (1913-1935) 6.6.1 Kazimir Malevich In addition to the mentioned non-figurative pioneers, reference must be made to Kazirnir Malevich(1878-1935), Russian artist and founder of Suprematism. Malevich not only pursued abstract art to adefinitive conclusion, but, together with Neo-Plasticism, played a pivotal role in the emergence of a modern architectural vocabulary. Since the hosting of the famous series of "Jack of Diamond Exhibitions" t7 on Cubism in Moscowfrom 1910 to 1913, and the staging of several futurist happenings that included a lecture tour byMarinetti, Russian artists were particularly well informed about the latest artistic developments from abroad. In a country haunted by technological backwardness and vast economical discrepancies,Cubism and Futurism found a receptive audience amongst the artistic intelligentsia who eagerly anticipated revolutionary change in all fields of human activity. These radical aesthetic innovations were rapidly assimilated, imbued with socio-political connotations and in due course adopted forpropagandist purposes. Malevich was one of the first Russians to emulate these persuasive artistic influences (jig. 6.3 j -6.32).He was considerably impressed with the reductive methodology of Cubism, its geometricpropensities, and the visual dynamics explored by the Futurists. In the essay "Die GegenstandsloseWelt" (1927; 1968: 337),18 Malevich makes the following comment: "The art of the industrial environment has its first beginnings in Cubism and Futurism, thatis, at the point where conventional painting leaves off ... it is the expression of the rhythm of our time. " ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------17 These series of exhibitions were organized by French art critic and author Alexandre Mercereau (1884-q.v.).According to Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism (London: Thames & Hudson), 183-185, works by Gris. Lhote, LeFauconnier; Leger, Braque and Picasso were shown intennittently. The latter two artists were only represented in thefinal year of the exhibition. 18 Malevich, K., 1927, "Die Gegenstandslose Welt", Bauhausbuch 11 (Munich); translated extract published as "Introduction to the Theory of the Additional Element in Painting" in Chipp, 1968, Theories o/Modern Art: 337-340. 6.31 Malevich, The Violin (c. 1912). 6.33 MaJevich, The Basic Suprematist Element: The Square (c. 1913). 6.35 Ma1evich, Suprematist Composition Conveying (I F'pe!in[J nfUniversal Soace (1916). 6.32 Ma1evich, Woman with Pails of Water: Dynamic Arrangement (1912). 6.34 Vintage photograph of Ma1evich's display at tl 0-10, The Last Futurist Exhibition, Petrograd (1915 6.36 Malevich, Suprematist Composition Conveyir the Feelinf? ot' a Mystic Wave frO/no Outer Space (191 83 Yet, Malevich was quick to internalize the conceptual significance of both movements, develop his own particular response to the modem consciousness and liberate art even further from any conditioned associations. This culminated in his so-called non-objective (as opposed to anti-subjective) artistic approach, which was a metaphysical interpretation of the spatial revelations of Cubism and kinetic preoccupations of the Futurists, conveyed in From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism: The New Realism in Painting, published in 1916. Suprematism emerged in 1913 with the most abstract composition produced to date. As the title suggests, The Basic Suprematist Element: The Square (fig. 6.33) constituted a black square on a white background, preceding Mondrian's elemental compositions by two years. 19 Malevich (1927; 1968: 342) 20 reflected retrospectively: "When, in 1913, in my desperate attempt to free art from the ballast of objectivity, I took refuge in the square form and exhibited a picture which consisted of nothing more than a black square on a white field, the critics and, along with them the public sighed, 'Everything which we love is lost. We are in the desert ... Before us is nothing but a black square on a white background. 11 6.6.2 Rudimentary Suprematism Suprematism progressed through three distinct phases. The brief incubatory stage, consisting of singular geometric shapes, was surpassed by a dynamic phase in which the configurations had multiplied, and culminated in a volumetric metamorphosis. From the outset, Malevich restricted his artistic portfolio to the line, square, rectangle, cross and circle. Yet, regardless of how minimal the content, these planimetric compositions were pregnant with meaning, and explored the reconciliation between the contemporaneous and the transcendental. To Malevich, the geometric represented the supremacy ofthe man-made and was emblematic of the modem, industrial paradigm. The straight line symbolized man's ascendancy over the chaos of nature. The square, in turn, was considered the most supreme manifestation of human intelligence since it does not occur in nature. These geometric entities also embodied a metaphysical significance that were informed by theosophical doctrines and represented aspects such as birth, life, death and immortality (Scharf, 1966; 1991: 138-140). The significance that Malevich attributed to the square was evident in the way in which it was displayed at the avant-garde exhibition "0-10, The Last Futurist Exhibition", hosted in Petrograd (former St Petersburg) in 1915 (fig. 6.34). By mimicking the Russian Orthodox tradition of hanging the icon diagonally across the corner, Malevich resoundingly declared the square, the icon ofhis time - technologically, as well as spiritually. Not only were these planimetric configurations considered profound, but their painterly context was equally significant in that it represented the infinity of space, as the following titles suggest: Suprematist Composition Conveying a Feeling ofUniversal Space (1916,fig. 6.35) and Suprematist Composition' Conveying the Feeling ofa Mystic Wave from Outer Space (1917, fig. 6.36). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 Weston, R., 1996, Modernism (London: Phaidon), 145, disputes the dating of The Basic Suprematist Element: The Square, contending that it was deliberately altered by two years to claim superiority to Mondrian's abstractions. However, the minimalist backdrop painted by Malevich for the experimental and politically-biased opera Victory over the Sun dates from 1913, marking the first appearance of the square motif. 20 Malevich, K., 1927, "Die Gegenstands10se Welt", Bauhausbuch 11 (Munich); translated extract published as "Suprematism" in Chipp (00.),1968, Theories ofModern Art: 341-346. ,."...' ~.,.'. . ' .. '" "/'. '. 6.37 Malevich, Dynamic Suprematism (1915). 6.39 Malevich, Suprematist Composition: White on White (1917/8). 6.41 Lissitzky, Cleave [Beat] the Whites with the Red Wed17e (1919/20), 6.38 Malevich, Suprematist Composition (1917). 6.40 Klutsis, Axiometric Painting (c. 1920). 6.42 (Top) Malevich, suprematist-inspired crockery (1923). 0.43 (Bottom) Nikolai Suetin (1897-1954), 84 Although his initial painterly compositions were completely two-dimensional, 21 Malevich was also preoccupied with the fourth dimension, referred to by title, Painterly Realism ofa Football Player Colour Masses in the Fourth Dimension (c. 1915), and echoed in his writings. To him and many of his Russian peers, 22 the fourth dimension was not only indicative of the new scientific paradigm but it also encompassed existentialist suppositions concerning the spiritual realm, providing a vital connection between the physical and the metaphysical. 6.3 Dynamic Suprematism During the dynamic stage of Suprematism, Malevich investigated the compositional means of conveying spatial and kinetic concepts. The hierarchical distribution of line, colour and shape, coupled with the manner in which these rudimentary pictorial means related to one another, created disconcerting spatial ambiguities, perspectival dislocations and optical tensions (figs 6.37-6.38). The most important aspect that set Suprematism apart from Neo-Plasticism was that the compositional organization of the geometric content did not conform to the orthogonal. Whereas Mondrian was committed to a visual equilibrium, 23 Malevich, by contrast, aimed at a visual dynamicism that was achieved as a result of the defiance of the perpendicular. In the later development of Dynamic Suprematism colour was relegated to a secondary role. The resultant monochromatic compositions emphasized that motion could be suggested by shape alone. Thus, Malevich had indicated that movement could, in addition to the depiction of simultaneous views and the calculated distributions of colour accents, be achieved by the contra-positioning of the planimetric. However, just when it seemed as if the compositional had surpassed the conceptual, Malevich produced his ultimate suprematist statement, the controversial Suprematist Composition: White on White of 1917/8 (jig. 6.39), in which the tilted white square seemingly generates its own energy, defies gravity and is suspended indefinitely in cosmic space. With this particular painting, Malevich had evidently exhausted his two-dimensional pictorial repertoire and henceforth directed his attention to the volumetric. 6.4. Suprematist Application Even before producing the apogee of Suprematism, Malevich's emblematic geometric portfolio had been embraced by several Russian artists and architects, but adapted for their individual, conceptual and, ultimately, overtly propagandist purposes. For example, artist Gustav Klutsis (1895-1944) employed axonometric projections to explore the optical tensions created between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional (jig. 6.40). Graphic artist-cum-architect, Lazar (El) Lissitzky (1890-1941) exploited the suprematist vocabulary to convey political messages. This was ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 According to Moszynska (1990: 56), some preliminary sketches made by Malevich before his volumetric phase indicate that some of his two-dimensional compositions had been derived from orthographic projections. The planimetric footprint served as a remnant of the "geometric solid falling from space" - a visual analogy for the quasi-scientific theories of the Russian philosopher, Peter Ouspensky. 22 Moszynska (ibid.: 56-58) draws attention to the fact that the fourth dimension was a popular topic in Russia during the years prior to the First World War. Ouspensky wrote several books on the subject, including The Fourth Dimension (1909) and Tertium Organum (1911), as did another Russian author, Vladimir Solovyov. However, instead of time, Ouspensky equated the fourth dimension with life-hereafter, informing Malevich's cosmic transcendentalism. 23 Mondrian frequently used the term "dynamic equilibrium" to describe his artistic aims. This denotation is quite unsatisfactory when comparing his rather static compositions with those of Malevich - even though Mondrian did achieve some kinetic sensibility by the manner in which he distributed colour and varied line thicknesses. 85 technological expediency that coincided with the infectious techno-scientific climate of the Machine Age. The widespread currency that the suprematist vocabulary enjoyed was evident at the first anniversary celebrations of the October Revolution in Petrograd in 1918, where massive squares, demonstrated in the infamous poster Cleave [Beat] the Whites with the Red Wedge (1919/20, fig. 6.41), followed by illustrations for the children's book The Tale of Two Squares, produced together with Eliezer Markowitsch in 1922. The proponents of the concurrent constructivist movement also eulogized elementary geometric configurations since they embodied a rational integrity and rectangles, circles, rectangles, and so forth, adorned the facilities and became synonymous with the communist dispensation - albeit short-lived. Suprematism also exercized a considerable influence on the applied arts produced in the Soviet Union during the 1920s. Devoid of its existentialist significance, the geometric vocabulary and compositional permutations of Suprematism served as a highly effective, decorative idiom for textile and even crockery design in which even Malevich participated (jigs 6.42-6.48). During the late 1950s, Suprematism found precedent in the American aesthetic initiative, known as Minimalism. 6.9 THE CUBIST DERIVATIVES, IN CONCLUSION Apart from Purism, no other painterly derivative of Cubism that dates from the period preceding the First WorId War - Synchronism, Rayonism or Vorticism - made any particular contribution to the consecration of modern architecture and requires any elaboration. Purism - the least abstract of all the cubist derivatives - not only induced the tectonic transformation of Le Corbusier's architectural repertoire, but followed most closely the evolutionary sequence of Cubism. Significantly, of all the aesthetic movements that contributed to the codification of a modern architectural vocabulary, Purism was the only painterly enterprise that did not progress through an interim volumetric stage before emerging in architectural format. In view of this unique characteristic, attention is directed towards the genesis of Purism before reviewing the volumetric incarnation of Cubo-Futurism, Neo-Plasticism and Suprematism in further chapters. 6.10 SUMMARY For the sake of contextualizing the plastic consequences of Cubism, reference was made to those pictorial initiatives that played a pivotal role in establishing this interface. The chapter commenced with the Italian aesthetic movement Futurism, since its glorified mechano-centricism underpined much of the theoretical discourse of 20th century architecture. Attention was also drawn to the fact that the Futurists were only able to convey effectively their radical conceptual intentions after a first-hand introduction to Cubism. Their pictorial endeavours engendered a sustained interest in motion and related dynamic propensities, spawned a host of cubo-futurist initiatives and contributed substantially to the genesis of abstract art. The pioneering abstract artists, Orphists Frantisek Kupka and Robert Delaunay, and Expressionist Vasily Kandinsky, recognized that the rudimentary principles of art - line, shape, form and colour are legitimate artistic subject matter and worthy of independent pursuit. The consequential dismissal of the figurative was considered a fitting response to the modern consciousness and then-recent techno-scientific innovations. 86 The work of Neo-Plasticist Piet Mondrian followed the evolutionary sequence of Cubism to a far greater degree than any of the other pioneering abstract artists. However, Mondrian soon felt that the Cubists did not pursue to satisfaction the logical consequences of their discoveries, hence directing his energies to the geometrical, and dispensing· with the naturalistic starting point. His so-called elemental compositions were informed by theosophical doctrines and the abstractions initiated independently by his fellow Dutch artist, Bart van der Leck. Mondrian's and Van der Leck's pictorial initiatives caught the attention of self-taught artist Theo van Doesburg, who instigated the founding of the influential De Stijl movement, with its emblematic artistic repertoire that consisted of the orthogonal, the primary colour range and the three supposedly non-colours. Russian artist Kazimir Malevich also pursued the geometric propensity of Cubism, though combined with the visual dynarnicism of Futurism. Malevich investigated the reconciliation between the contemporaneous and the transcendental, ascribing a cosmological significance to his restricted artistic repertoire. He was furthermore responsible for the pursuit of abstract art to its ultimate conclusion, whereupon he directed his attention to volumetric investigations. Since his geometric portfolio embodied a rational integrity and a technological expediency that coincided with the infectious techno-scientific climate of the Machine Age, Suprematism enjoyed widespread currency and was soon imbued with utilitarian and even political dispositions. In substantiating the principal argument that Cubism acted as the seminal influence on the codification of a modem architectural vocabulary, attention is directed at the volumetric incarnation of Cubism traced, firstly, via Purism. CHAPTER 7 7.1 PREFACE 87 "AFTER CUBISM": PURISM This chapter examines the extent to which the aesthetic initiative, Purism, was derived from Cubism. The next chapter assesses how Purism had induced - via the cubist precedent - the tectonic transformation of the work by the most influential, though enigmatic, architect of the 20th century, Le Corbusier. 7.2 INTRODUCTION "Le Corbusier came to architecture through painting ... It [will be to] painters like him Cezanne, Picasso - that Le Corbusier's name will always be most closely linked, and not with contemporaries like Adolf Loos, or Peter Behrens, or Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe; or with Horta, Berlager and Mackintosh ... He was part of a fantastically brilliant family of artists in which his immediate relatives were Braque, Picasso, Leger and Gris; at the head of it was undoubtedly Cezanne." (Gardiner, 1974: 50) Stephen Gardiner's statement that Le Corbusier shared a closer alliance with the cubist artists than with any of his architectural peers would in all probability be refuted by the majority of scholars of architecture. Not only was Le Corbusier, at the time of the genesis ofPurism in 1918, acquainted with the leading figures of the Modem Movement, 1 but he was also assiduously versed in the architectural discourse of the day. Commencing as early as 1914 with the development ofDom-ino [Dom-Ino] as a structural prototype for mass housing, Le Corbusier continued to be concerned with broader social and urban planning issues - although these were more often than not utopian and unrealistic in their implementation. Whilst engaging in the polemics of architecture, Le Corbusier also codified aesthetic principles, which he explored through the media of painting and the written word. The successful reconciliation of the two autonomous aesthetic disciplines bears testimony to his combined genius as architect and artist, endorsed by Gardiner (ibid.: 29): "It was in the struggle to unite his own extraordinary gifts - those of engineer and painter and in the realization of a perfect union between the two, that Le Corbusier invented architecture. " However, to imply that Le Corbusier's architecture was derived exclusively from his paintings is somewhat simplistic. This inquiry indicates that his painterly exploits were also approached from an architectural bias. It is more viable to propose that the maturation of his architectural insights had resulted from his exposure to modem art - in particular, to Cubism. His comment, published in Modular 2 (1958: 296-297), "It was only in 1919 - at the age of32 - that I was really able to see the 'architectural phenomenon' ... the secret ofmy quest must be sought in painting", confirms this view. Mention has been made of the extraordinary fact that despite Le Corbusier's incessant reference to the impacting role of his paintings on his architecture, hardly any research has been attempted in this field. 2 It is also perturbing that, to date, no chronological view of his painterly (Euvre has been ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 In addition to apprenticeships served with Auguste Perret (1874-1954) between 1908 and 1909, and Peter Behrens (1868-1940) during the following year, Le Corbusier also met Waiter Gropius (1883-1969) and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) in Behrens' office. He met Tony Gamier (q.v.) while working for Perret in Paris, and JosefHoffmann (1870-1956) in Vienna in 1908.. 2 To date, the most comprehensive account on the correlation between Le Corbusier's purist art and purist architecture that has been encountered is ReicWin B., 1997, "Jeanneret-Le Corbusier, Painter-Architect", in Blau, E. and Tray, N. (eds.), Architecture and Cubism (Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture), 195-218. 88 compiled. Moreover, a definitive study on Purism does not exist, nor have all its texts been translated . into English. These factors - compounded by conflicting information and contradictory translations contribute to the necessity for a study of this nature, but also to its complexity. Whilst Purism is acknowledged as an autonomous and noteworthy art movement, Le Corbusier's peintures puristes are not generally held in high esteem by the art establishment. In a rare interview, entitled "Meeting with Le Corbusier" and conducted late in his life in April 1962, Viveca Bosson (1995a: 12) comments on the eagerness with which he would talk about his paintings rather than his architecture: "He talked with warmth, joy and pride and also with a tinge of bitterness: 'you see, I still paint. This activity does not only restrict itself to the purist period as people seem to think. They are only interested in my architecture!' " On the authority ofMogens Krustrup (1995: 125),3 Le Corbusier reiterated at another occasion: "People only know me as an architect, they will not recognise me as a painter and yet it is through my painting that I've arrived at architecture." Bruno Reichlin (1997: 195-196) draws attention to his own translated extract from an article, entitled "Unite", published in Architecture d'Aujourd'hui in April 1948, in which Le Corbusier makes the following comment: "Here I open a side door into where I live. It gives access to a workshop for patient research. Here is the key to my work ... Inventing forms, creating relationships, proportioning lines, volumes, colours ... These paintings and drawings date to 1920 [1918] when, at the age of thirty-three, I began painting. I have been painting ever since, every day, mastering the secrets ofform wherever I can find them, developing the spirit of invention just as an acrobat daily develops his muscle and self-control ... " The objective of this chapter and the following is to examine the extent to which Le Corbusier's artistic output informed the so-called purist phase of his architecture. This introductory chapter traces the genesis of Purism, specifically in relation to Cubism; acknowledges Ozenfant's contribution; analyzes purist doctrine; and chronologically reviews Le Corbusier's artistic accomplishments from 1918 to 1925. The next chapter concentrates on the architectural transformation of Purism with reference to the formal, conceptual, compositional and spatial correlations between his purist art and purist architecture. Although beyond the scope of this thesis, it is noteworthy that the distinct changes that occurred in Le Corbusier's architecture during the ensuing decade ofgrands travaux (large works) coincided with the new directions already evident in his paintings after the dissolution of Purism in 1925. The ongoing correspondence between these two disciplines, and in which his paintings, without fail, pre-empt new directions in his architectural output, calls for further investigation. 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Le Corbusier's comment is presumed quoted from his preface "to a short book on Ronchamp", but no further information is provided. 4 See Coli, J., 1996, "Structure and Play in Le Corbusier's Art Works", AA Files, no. 31: 3-15, for an account on Le Corbusier's paintings dating from his post-purist period 89 7.3 THE GENESIS OF PURISM "Purism is the least known of modem movements. It is not one of those now popular movements that you can find ... in paperback - a whole instant movement around R 30 [SAR]. Yet architecturally Purism was the most influential of all modem movements. It shaped the definitive image of the 'International Style' through the work of Le Corbusier." (Guedes, 1988: 23) Purism, an all-embracing aesthetic movement, was officially launched with the publication of the booklet Apres le Cubisme (After / Beyond Cubism) by authors Am6d6e Ozenfant (1886-1966) and Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier) in November / December 1918. s This event also coincided with the first exhibition of their paintings expounding purist aesthetic theory at Galerie Thomas in Paris. Ozenfant - eternal scholar, painter, art cntlc, entrepreneur and distinguished designer - was particularly critical of the lack of sound organizational principles in cubist compositions and had already aired these views in an article, entitled "Notes sur le Cubisme", published in the tenth and last edition of his literary initiative L'Elan in December 1916. Following the academic exposure of his formative years and his extensive travels, 6 the decorative artist-cum-self-taught architect Jeanneret concluded that meaningful artistic expression required an underlying sense of order to ensure. visual harmony. As he commented in L'Art Decoratif d'Aujourd'hui (1925; 1987: 206,207): "This third chapter [1907-1911] again finds me travelling abroad in quest of the lesson that will clarify my mind, and in an attempt to capture the source of art, the reason for art, the role of art. I acquainted myself with the fashions ofParis, Vienna, Berlin, Munich. Everything about all these fashions seemed to be dubious ... I embarked on a great journey, which was to be decisive [concluding that] Architecture [like art] is in ... everything, sublime or modest, which contains sufficient geometry to establish a mathematical relationship. After such a voyage my respect for decoration was finally shattered. " Ozenfant and Jeanneret met in 1917/8. 7 The discovery that they shared numerous interests and sentiments led to an intellectual collaboration that culminated in the genesis of Purism - initially intended as an artistic initiative, which its authors believed would improve on the pictorial innovations of Cubism and eventually succeed it. S Some sources cite 9 November 1918 as the publication date ofApres le Cubisme, whereas others maintain that the manuscript was first submitted for publication on that date. There is consensus, though, that the first purist exhibition was hosted in December, which may well have coincided with the distribution of the booklet as the catalogue accompanying the exhibition. 6 For a comprehensive review of Jeanneret's academic exposures during his formative years with its distinct Platonic and Pythogorean influences, see Turner, P., 1971, "Beginnings of Le Corbusier's Education, 1902-07"; reprinted in Serenyi, P. (ed.), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall), 18-25. Jeanneret's travels between 1907 and 1911 to Central and Eastern Europe, and Turkey have been recorded extensively. Refer foremost to Le Corbusier, 1923; 1987, Towards a New Architecture [Vers une Architecture], trans. Etchell, F. (New York: Dover). Le Corbusier compiled a recollection of his joumeys, entitled Voyage d'Orient (paris), published after his death in 1966. 7 There is conflicting information about exactly where and when Ozenfant and Jeanneret had met. Considering that Ozenfant was a neighbour and friend of Perret for whom Le Corbusier had worked, it is most likely that he introduced them - either at his studio or at a so-ealledArt et Liberte meeting hosted in Paris. Baker, G., 1996, Le Corbusier - The Creative Search (London: E & FN S1'On), 240, sets the date as May 1917. On the other hand, Le Corbusier, 1925; 1987, The Decorative Art of Today [L'Art Decoratif d'Aujourd'hui], trans. Dunnett, J. (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press), 214, states explicitly that he had met Ozenfant in 1918. 90 Jeanneret adopted the pseudonym "Le Corbusier" in 1920 with the specific intention of distinguishing his artistic pursuits from his architectural career. 8 Ozenfant, in turn, adopted the pseudonym "Saugnier" when they co-authored a series of articles on architecture for their publication L'Esprit Nouveau between October 1920 and November 1921. As a result of the wide acclaim that followed when these articles were collectively published as Vers une Architecture in 1923, the two pseudonyms gained international recognition. However, it was only from 1928 that Le Corbusier started to sign his paintings as such. As noted before, for the sake of consistency and not to confuse his efforts with those by Pierre Jeanneret, his cousin and partner in his Parisian architectural practice, this thesis will refer to Le Corbusier by his pseudonym. Any deviation reflects the preference of a particular author. 7.4 OZENFANT'S CONTRlBUTION In order to appreciate the role played by Purism in the development and maturation of Le Corbusier's architectural insights, cognizance must be taken of Ozenfant's contribution. Although Le Corbusier later attempted to minimize, even denigrate, Ozenfant's role, 9 there is little doubt that the inception of Purism can be ascribed to Ozenfant's initiative and intellectual rigour. Ozenfant was born into a prosperous family from Saint-Quentin in Picardy, France. Although he initially enrolled to study architecture, Ozenfant soon transferred to painting and received a formal art education in the French Beaux Arts tradition, presumably at an institution called La Palette. Described as an inquisitive genius and an intellectual par excellence, Ozenfant's diverse range of interests included philosophy, literature, archeology, astronomy, mathematics, photography and music. Well-read and widely travelled, he was considered one of the most scholarly artists of his time. Due to his marriage to a Russian painter in 1908, he lived in St Petersburg until 1910 where he was influenced by the social idealism ofthe artistic intelligentsia. As a distinguished racing car driver, Ozenfant designed an automobile body known as the Hispano Alphonse XIII in 1912. His adaptations and modifications, modelled on the Hispano Suiza prototype, considerably improved the car's aerodynamic qualities. The recognition of the correlation between form and function became a life-long conviction, which he duly shared with Le Corbusier. Since Ozenfant was declared medically unfit to serve in World War I, he launched and financed the successful wartime periodical L 'Elan in 1915 as an attempt to sustain developments in French art during that troubled period. Contact with the leading proponents of modem art - including Picasso, Braque, Gris, Matisse and Apollinaire - contributed significantly to his personal development as an artist. Although he considered Cubism to be the most relevant of all the contemporaneous art movements, Ozenfant's aesthetic preferences were strongly informed by Platonic philosophy, hence propagating an artistic expression that adhered to timeless and universal values. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 The pseudonym "Le Corbusier" was derived from the surname "Lecorbes[z]ier" of a distant relative of Jeanneret altered by Ozenfant in a moment of jest. Le Corbusier means "the raven archer" - a medieval term used to denote the person who shot the birds that soiled the roofs of churches. Jeanneret associated the name with his role as 'purifier' of architecture. Some sources claim that Jeanneret had, prior to 1923, also used the additional pseudonyms "De Fayet", "Vauvrecy" and "Julia[e]n Caron". However, other sources maintain that Vauvrecy and Caron were actually used by Ozenfant, whose other pseudonym "Saugnier" was his mother's maiden name. 9 The first edition of Vers une Architecture was published under joint authorship, but all other editions were published in Le Corbusier's name only. This caused Ozenfant considerable dissatisfaction and contributed to the acrimonious dissolution of Purism in 1925. Bosson, v., 1995b, "Le Corbusier - The Architect who became a Painter and Sculptor", in Bosson, v., Von Moos, S., Naegele, D., et al., Le Corbusier, Painter and Architect, exhibition catalogue, Nodjyllands Kunstmuseum, Copenhagen (Denmark: Linde Tryk), 50, mentions a letter that Ozenfant wrote to Le Corbusier, dated 9 December 1928, listing his reasons for the dissolution of the friendship, but Bosson refrained from publishing its contents. In a personal interview conducted with Le Corbusier in 1962, Basson, v., 1995a, "Meeting with Le Corbusier" in ibid.: 19, comments on how reluctant he still was to discuss Ozenfant. ' 91 According to Golding (1994: 142): "In the first place [Ozenfant] came to a deep conviction that Cubism was the most serious and valid of recent developments in French painting and embodied the French virtues that he most esteemed: clarity, order, formal control and intellectual astringency. At a wider level he advocated the disciplines involved in the creation of a classically oriented, formalistic art as an antidote to the restless, desperate and occasionally cynical responses of many artists to a period of upheaval and strife." This Platonic bias, concurring with both his Beaux Arts education and the classicizing predilections of the Groupe de Puteaux, pre-empted the publication of the renowned extract from the Philebus on the universal beauty of certain geometric configurations and manufactured objects in the ninth edition of L'Elan in 1916. According to Bosson (1995b: 25), Plato's text had elicited an enormous visual response from the so-called second generation and, presumably, second-rate Cubists who promptly transformed their subject matter into isosceles triangles. Bosson (ibid.) maintains that it was this somewhat superficial interpretation of Platonic aesthetic doctrine that led Ozenfant to conclude that Cubism was in the process of deviating from its original premises - degenerating into "a sphere of ornamentation". In the tenth and last issue of L'Elan, Ozenfant denounced the "capriciousness" of Cubism and its arbitrarily determined compositions, stating that the Cubists "seem to forget that their worth lies not in the absence of the depicted, but in the beauty of the composition" (ibid.). According to Ozenfant1s memoirs (1968; 1973; 10), he had contemplated the formulation of a counter artistic initiative infused with a distinctly Platonic spirit as early as March 1917 - an aspiration he must have shared with Le Corbusier at the time of their fortuitous meeting. Although intent on a career in architecture, Le Corbusier maintained a lively interest in the visual arts. Having sketched since childhood, his study tours between 1907 and 1911 provided an ideal opportunity to visually record all he experienced. Much attention has been called to the exploratory nature of these chronicles that signify a diverse range of artistic influences, 10 often conflicting with the teachings of his drawing instructor and mentor, Charles L'Eplattenier (1874-q.v.) In his corpus of letters dating from this pre-purist period, 11 Le Corbusier increasingly mentioned the names of modern artists whose work he had encountered and been impressed by. These included the relatively unknown Swiss painters, Cuno Amiet and Adolphe Appia, in addition to Paul Signac (1863-1935), Munch and Matisse. Since no mention is made of any cubist artists, it can be assumed that it was Ozenfant who introduced Le Corbusier to their work. 12 It was only after meeting Ozenfant, who evidently introduced him to the technique of oil painting, that Le Corbusier earnestly committed himself to painting. In the famous letter, dated 9 June 1918, Le Corbusier openly confessed his admiration for Ozenfant, which, undoubtably, caused him excruciating embarrassment later in his life: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10 See Von Moos, S., 1995, "Charles Edouard Jeanneret and the Visual Arts", in Bosson, Von Moos, Naegele, et al., Le Corbusier, Painter andArchitect. 59-82. 11 Le Corbusier's correspondence, dating from 1907 to 1917, is presently housed at the Bibliotheque de la Ville, La Chaux-de-Fonds, but has never been published in full. Von Moos (ibid.: 81) claims that his translated extracts from these letters had, prior to 1995, never been published in English. Refer specifically to Le Corbusier's correspondence with L'Eplattenier, referred to on pages 69, 71 and 72, in which he informs his tutor of his new artistic insights. 12 In a letter quoted by Baker (1996: 240), dated 24 January 1918 and addressed to one William Ritter, Le Corbusier not only mentions Ozenfant by name, but he refers also to Cubism, which he calls "truly beautiful", stating, "What strange lessons one learns in Paris". 92 "All is confusion in me since I started sketching. Throbs of blood push my fingers in arbitrary ways, my reason no longer controls ... In my confusion I think of your clear, quiet will-power. An abyss of time divides us. I am on the threshold of study, you are putting theories into practice ... " 1; Following a sojourn at Andernos in September 1918, Ozenfant and Le Corbusier started to work together. This intimate relationship, extending over a period of seven years, effected the lives and careers of both. Ozenfant's interest in the literary achievements of Graeco-Roman antiquity and, in particular, Platonic doctrine, coincided with the philosophical premises that had intrigued Le Corbusier since his formative years at La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. Le Corbusier's architectural career not only corresponded with Ozenfant's experiences as a designer, but expanded the focus of Purism way beyond the visual arts and mere artistic considerations. However, Le Corbusier's rise to fame as an architect of international standing had an adverse affect on their friendship, exacerbated by the financial difficulties experienced by L 'Esprit Nouveau from 1924. Following a disagreement in 1925 over the display of the La Roche art collection at Mais(Jns La Roche-Jeanneret, Ozenfant and Le Corbusier parted ways. 14 Although Ozenfant managed to pursue an artistic career independent from Le Corbusier, he was never recognized as a major artist in his own right. Much to the dismay of art critics, his work from the late 1920s became increasingly figurative. He was, though, held in high esteem as an art teacher and academic, corroborated by the wide acclaim received by his book Art, published in 1928, of which the English translation Foundations ofModern Art appeared in 1931. He left France in 1936, settled in the USA in 1939 where he worked and taught until 1955. He thereupon returned to France but, due to his long absence, he was unable to regain his former esteemed position in the art world and died in relative obscurity in 1966. 7.5 PURIST DOGMA 7.5.1 Purism as a Counteracting Artistic Initiative Purism was a highly ambitious but brief movement, lasting from 1918 until 1925. Unlike the creators of Cubism - Picasso and Braque - the Purists wrote extensively and illustrated the application of their theories by a myriad of drawings and paintings. Although widely exhibited in its lifetime, IS it was essentially as a result of Le Corbusier's architectural accomplishments that Purism received due consideration and was recognized as an autonomous art movement. The Purists are, however, still credited by contemporary art historians with having levelled some of the most valid criticism at Cubism. According to Fry (1966: 176): "There have been surprisingly few attempts thus far at a critical and historical evaluation of cubism. The first was Ozenfant's and Jeanneret's La Peinture Moderne, Paris, 1925, based on a series of articles in their review L 'Esprit Nouveau. While inevitably prejudiced in favour of their own aesthetic interests, they did however give a broader view than many more recent critics, and they saw correctly that cubism continued as a living style until the mid-1920s; they also saw 1912 as a moment of decisive change, but over-emphasized the role of Cezanne in pre-1914 cubism. " ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13 There are several English translations of this particular letter. This extract is taken from Jencks, C., 1973, Le Corbusier and the Tragic View ofArchitecture (London: Penguin), 50-51, which he SOUICed from Ozenfant, Nov. 1965, Aujourd'hui Art et Architecture - but the letter may well have appeared in print some time before that date. 14 For a detailed account of the La Roche incident, see Benton, T., 1987, The Villas ofLe Corbusier, 1920-1930 (New Haven: Yale Univ. ~ess), 67, 70. IS Apart from the first purist exhibition at Galerie Thomas in 1918, another was hosted at Galerie Druet in 1921 and at the Salon d'Automne in 1922, all in Paris. Green, C., 1991 ed" "Purism", in Stangos, N. (ed.), Concepts ofModem Art (London: Thames & Hudson), 79, mentions that purist paintings were shown "from Paris to Prague" between 1918 to 1925, but refrained from being more specific. 93 When considered purely from an artistic point of view, it is clear that Purism was a counteracting initiative, entirely indebted to the spatial and pictorial innovations of Cubism. Ozenfant and Le Corbusier did acknowledge their dependence on Cubism in Apres le Cubisme and expressed explicitly their admiration for, specifically, its analytical phase. They maintained that the work produced by Picasso and Braque between 1910 and 1912 encapsulated the essence of a modem artistic expression because it emphasized the rudimentary principles of art, particularly regarding form (Golding, 1994: 143). However, they inferred that during the synthetic phase of Cubism, the semiotic content of the pictorial reconstructions took precedence over the formal significance of the subject matter, and that the supposedly unwarranted distortions falsified reality. They also claimed that the creative freedom induced by the novel process of synthesis and reassembly was unsubstantiated by any rational means of compositional organization. Moreover, due to its allegedly compositional chaos and romantic disorder, Cubism had degenerated into a decorative, pictorial style (ibid.: 144). They were eminently critical of the fact that the Cubists, especially Picasso and Braque, 16 did not address. the prevailing industrial Zeitgeist - an opinion shared by the Futurists. (This criticism is somewhat short-sighted considering the revolutionary space-time dimension that Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon had introduced to the plastic arts, which Le Corbusier only acknowledged many years later.) In view of their interest in Platonic philosophy and Pythagorean numerology, the Purists also maintained that Cubism did not take advantage of the latent possibilities ofform and, consequently, the conceptual significance that the Purists' attributed to form per se. Hence their claim to take Cubism to its logical conclusion (Green, 1991: 79), and their advocating a more rigourous artistic approach according to which pictorial composition would be structurally disciplined and purified form 17 would be celebrated. In the words of Stanislaus von Moos (1979: 40): "Purism, in short, was an avant-garde movement only in the broadest sense of the word. Its outlook was idealistic and restorative. It glorified order, logic, culture and technological progress." 7.5.2 L'Esprit Nouveau Following the publication of Apres le Cubisme, Ozenfant, Le Corbusier and poet Paul Dermee founded the periodical L'Esprit Nouveau - Une Revue Internationale d'Esthetique in October 1920. Whereas the former had served largely as a critique on Cubism, the editorial commentary in the latter communicated purist contentions with a fervour similar to other contemporaneous artistic manifestoes. L 'Esprit Nouveau was soon recognized as one of the most influential publications of the 1920s. Its twenty-eight issues featured avant-garde tendencies in the artistic, literary and musical arenas, and also ------------------~----------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Despite their criticism levelled, specifically, at Picasso and Braque, the Purists had great affinity for the work of Leger and Gris, whose approach to composition was not much different from their own. The admiration must have been mutual considenng that Uger, according to Boesiger, W., 1972, Le Corbusier, Works and Projects (Barcelona: Ingoprint), 248, gave a lecture on Le Corbusier's architecture in Berlin in 1928. Paintings by Gris and Uger were exhibited together with those by Le Corbusier and Ozenfant at the Pavillon l'Esprit Nouveau in 1925. 17 The reference "pure form" is ambiguous. Although Platonic by association, the Purists never actually used the Platonic Solids, according to academic definition. Instead, in Vers une Architecture (1923; 1987: 159), Le Corbusier identified the primary range of Euclidean geometry - the cube, cuboid, sphere, cylinder and pyramid - as the essence of purist vocabulary. Consequently, "purified form" refers in a literal sense to the Purist's process of reducing natural or man-made artefacts to Euclidean geometry. 94- included topics as diverse as psychology, sociology and the latest developments in science. Bosson (1995b: 42) provid~s the following assessment: "Collaboration and transgression between cfrlferent art forms had already existed as ran1 idea and had spread to futurism, Bauhaus, neoplasticism etc: But it was not until the appearance of Esprit Nouveau that these ideas came to a sonorous. expression within the areas of experimental aesthetics such as painting, sculpture, literature, music, film, theatre, fashion, books, furniture, sport and the entire aesthetics ofmodem life. " Since Ozenfant and Le Corbusier had already announced that "a new spirit prevailed" in the introduction ofApres le Cubisme, the title of their new periodical seems an obvious choise. According to Fry (1966: 171), it was derived from an essay by Apollinaire, entitled "L'Esprit Nouveau et les Poetes", written in 1918 in response to the novel ballet performance "Parade" ofwhlch the musIc was composed by Eric Satie (1866-1925) and the sets designed by Picasso. Yet, the poetic freedom that Apollinaire associated with the term assumed a more explicit meaning for the Purists. Banham (1960a; 1996: 207) mentions that the phrase had already been employed by Choisy, but that "it was a slogan that gratified the s~nsibilities of several aspects of the Parisian avant-garde, and carried implications that ranged from Futurist to Classicist, as did the contents of the magazine itself". Although intended, as the subtitle ofL 'Esprit Nouveau suggests, to be an aesthetic review, 18 coverage soon included all aspects pertinent to modem life and the industrial Zeitgeist. To the Purists, the new spirit both anticipated and encompassed a society that would optimize its technological potential, celebrate the Machine Age, and establish a culture that promotes a purist-inspired design integrity in all the artistically-related arenas. These ambitions are paraphrased by Frampton (1980: 152) as "nothing less than a comprehensive theory of civilization". Bosson (1995b: 42) maintains that "Purism as a movement wanted to be in the service of inankind, and not limit itself to aesthetICS. The expansIve power of the new attitude, which was born of post-war optimism and a will to resurrect, spread to all areas of art and in every cultural sphere." The definitIon of Purism by Deborah Gans (1987: 180) as a "cultural aesthetic" is, in the final aJlalysis, the most fitting description of this all-embracing modem movement. On the one hand, Purism was an artistic initiative that aimed at the rationalization of the intuitive endeavours of the Cubists according to certain quasi-scientific precepts - a "cubist fundamentalism", in the words of Reichlin (1997: 210). On the other hand, Purism comprised a substantial ideological component that extended its doctrine way beyond mere artistic considerations. As confirmed Dy art historian Christopher Green (1991: 84), it was ultimately through the manner in which artistic and utilitarian premises were synthesized into a plausible aesthetic dogma - and exemplified through the medium of painting - that Purism demonstrated its independence from Cubism and other contemporaneous art movements. 7.5.3 Purist Artistic Theory Before reviewing Le Corbusier's paintings, an analysis of purist artistic theory is deemed necessary. Although the term "artistic" pertains to aesthetic considerations, the distinction between artistic theory and aesthetic theory is deliberate in order to emphasize those postulates relating, specifically, to the act ·ofpainting. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 It is noteworthy that in the English edition of Le Corbusier, 1925; 1987, L'Art Decoratif d'Aujourd'hui [The Decorative Art ofToday), 214, the subtitle of L'Esprit Nouveau is translated by Dunnett as "an international review of contemporary activity", rather than an aesthetic review. .~ Purism was, foremost, a highly contemplated and calculated endeavour. This can partly be ascribed to the reactionary stance it had adopted in relation to an existing precedent, and partly to the nature of the philosophical premises with which it had aligned itself It also happens to be one of the few modern art movements that explicated its conceptual position before putting pencil to paper - a strategy pertinent to architeyture. However, such a creative predisposition invites critical scrutiny, particularly when its artistic realizations do not live up to expectations - a criticism often levelled at purist painting. Since the Purists had claimed that Cubism had no well-defined theory (Ozenfant, 1928; 1952: 79), they, by contrast, developed a comprehensive theoretical doctrine - albeit often contradictory and ambiguous. Its complexity is compounded by the poetic quality of the written text, distinctive of both Ozenfant and Le Corbusier. Although appreciating the reductive methodology or-Cubism and utiIiziilg their practice of pictorial simultaneity to great effect, the principal theoretical arguments of Purism focussed on the perceived deficiencies of Cubism. These included, firstly, the lack of sound compositional organization and, secondly, the failure to conceptually respond to, or artistically reflect, the industrial Zeitgeist. These views find corroboration in Ozenfant's retrospective remark (ibid.: 117): "We laid down the foundations for a Purism that would bring order into the aesthetic imbroglio, and inoculate artists with the new spirit of the age misapprehended by so many of them." 7.5.3.1 Compositional Order i) Le Rappel al'Ordre In opposition to the intuitively determined compositions of the Cubists, the Purists' principal artistic postulate concerned the establishment of pictorial order - intrinsically a continuation of the prevailing neo-Platonic discourse, initiated by the Groupe de Puteaux via Marinetti and Severini. The Purists were adamant that order was a prerequisite to attain visual equilibrium. In substantiating their "call to order" (rappel al'ordre, coined by Jean Cocteau), the Purists advanced a theory that Man aspires instinctively to the harmony prevailing in nature - equating the quest for order with an intrinsic human need to create harmony (Green, 1991: 81). 191n the words of Green (ibid): "[According to the Purists] this order constantly found in our surroundings and our actions satisfies a genuine human need - the need of our minds to conceive equilibrium and our senses to perceive it". Following this train of thought, it was argued that the organization of the artistic composition had to correspond with the ordering systems exemplified in the numerological structure of the universe, since only this accomplishment could ensure the desired state of visual harmony. Thus, the status of proportion was reaffirmed, and classical proportioning systems were reinstated as the exclusive means of organizing the pictorial content on the painterly surface. ii) The Science ofComposition Concurring with the classical ideal of beauty, the Purists propagated a notion of aesthetic certainty and defined art in terms of specific constants. Green (ibid.: 80) comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 19 With reference to Ozenfant, A., 1923, "Ce Mois Passe", L'Esprit Nouveau, no. 19; Ozenfant, A., 1924, "Certitude, no. 1",L'EspritNouveau, no. 22; and Ozenfant, A., 1925, "Certitude, no. 2", L'Esprit Nouveau, no. 27. 96 "The Purists were strict rule-makers: their focus [was] on constant factors ... Their aim was to give art an unchanging foundation, and in this sense they were classical." However, unlike the Classicists, the Purists never claimed that their art presented a universal truth. Instead, Purism embodied a visual validity, corroborated by a so-called science of composition. In the essay entitled "La Tendance vers le Cristal" (1925~ 1966: 170-171), 20 Ozenfant states that "the true cubists ... will end by achieving a real virtuosity in the play of forms and colours, as well as a highly developed science of composition". This scientific composition enabled the desired sense of visual harmony that corresponded with the laws of the universe - "those laws", according to Ozenfant (ibid: 171), "which human reason loves to propound in order to explain nature". He was, moreover, of the opinion that "man takes delight in geometric forms because he finds in them what seems to be a confirmation for his abstract geometric concepts"'. Convinced that "man is animated by a geometric spirit", the Purists inferred in the article "Le Purisme", L'Esprit Nouveau, no. 4 (1921), that a "work of art should provide a sensation of mathematical order ... and the means by which this order is achieved should be sought in universal means" (Baker~ 1996: 242). These universal means allude to, firstly, divine proportion and, secondly, pure, Euclidean, geometry. In turn, the artistic composition can be qualified as the numerological organization of the subject matter according to certain metaphysical conventions, which, supposedly, give rise to the "objectivization" ofboth subject and art. This is paraphrased in "Le Purisme" as follows: "A painting is a whole (unity)~ a painting is an artificial formation which, by appropriate means, should lead to the objectivization of an 'entire' world." (Reichlin, 1997: 197) Ozenfant furthered this 'objectifying disposition' - qualified as la tendance vers le cristal - in the essay with the same name. iii) The Grammar and Syntax of Visual Sensation In addition to the science of composition, a so-called grammar and syntax of visual sensation were advanced as the foundation of art. 21 Syntax referred to the mathematical system adopted to govern the structure of the artistic composition. Geometry, form, line and colour constituted the grammar of the visual language. This language was considered universally comprehensible since it was based on invariable optic sensations - "the unchanged physiological structure of the eye, mind and body" (Green, 1991: 82) - irrespective of time, culture or place. However, only when the pictorial content had been depicted in its 'purest' state, would our sensory experiences be collective and would the artistic vocabulary qualify as so-called plastic constants. These views, expanded upon in "Sur la Plastique", L 'Esprit Nouveau, no. 1 (1920) and "Le Purisme", were already present in Apres le Cubisme of 1918, as this translated extract from Banham (1960a~ 1996: 207) indicates: "The aim of pure science is the expression of natural laws through the search for constants. The aim of serious art is also the expression of invariants ... The work of art must not be accidenta:I, exceptional, impressionist, inorganic, protestatory, picturesque, but, on the contrary, generalised, static, expressive of the invariant. " ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20 See the translated version of Ozenfant, A, 1925, "La Tendence vers le Cristal", La Peinture Moderne (paris), reprinted as "Towards the Crystal", in Fry, E. (00.), 1966, Cubism (London: Thames & Hudson), 170-171. 21 See Green, 1991, "Purism": 82; and Baker, 1996, Le Corbusier - The Creative Search: 240-243, with reference to Ozenfant, A and Jeanneret, C-E., 1921, "Le Purisme", L'Esprit Nouveau, no. 4. 97 Coinciding with Plato's convictions that certain stereometric configurations constitute absolute beauty, geometry was identified as the basis for the artistic composition, with its significance echoed consistently in all purist publications. As Le Corbusier noted in L'Art Decoratif d'Aujourd'hui (1925; 1987: 112): "Ordered! Let us reflect for a moment on the fact that there is nothing in nature that, as seen objectively by our eyes, approaches ... pure perfection ... Ifwe say with certainty: nature is geometrical, it is not that we have seen it; it is that we have recognized it, that we have interpreted it in accordance with our [inteITectuaIJ framework ... Ifwe pick up a polished pebble, choosing the roundest among the million of others it is because we aspire to the attainment of geometry ... Geometry and gods sit side by side " Form - as the three dimensional extrapolation of geometry - was categorized as either primary or secondary: either considered unequivocaf, timefess and devoid ofany distracting associations, or not (Green, 1991: 82). 22. Colour, qualified as a so-called surface factor, was supposedly subordinate to form because its integrity can easily be destroyed as the Impressionists succeeded in doing (ibid.). 23 Colour and tonal differentiation were adopted to emphasize the volumetric propensity of the subject matter, and also to reinforce the hierarchy of the composition, which, in turn, was established by the invariably stable dominance of (vertical and horizontal) line. Consider Banham's translated extract (1960a; 1996: 210) from La Peinture Modeme (1925), as flrst explored by the Purists in "L'Angle Droit", L'Esprit Nouveau, no. 18 (1923): "The vertical and the horizontal are - among the sensorial manifestations of natural phenomena - verifications of one of the most directly apparent laws. The horizontal and the vertical determine two right angles, out of the infinity of possible angles, the right angles is the angle-type; the right angle is one of the symbols of perfection. " Contrary to expectations, the artistic palette ofPurism was not restricted to the exclusive use of either primary forms or colours, nor confined to linear constructions as tne Neo-Plasticists Dad done, and displayed a greater degree of creative flexibility than one would expect. However, misleading colour associations had to be avoided, such as the inappropriate and supposedly erroneous use of blue to convey the solidity of an object. An initial preference for warmer tones was later expanded to multichromatic colour schemes, often contradicting earlier statements. 24 In their seminal essay "Le Purisme" (1921), the Purists stated their artistic objectives as follows: "Purism aims at an art making use of plastic constants, avoiding conventions, addressing itself first and foremost to the universal properties of the senses and the mind ... to achieve harmony ought to be the only goal." (Baker, 1996: 242) 7.5.3.2 Utilitarian Order No matter how definitive their formal language in response to the pictorial deficiencies of Cubism, the Purists had only yet codified the artistic framework of their painterly pursuits, the narrative still had to be determined. Green (1991: 83) points out: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 22 With reference to Ozenfant, A. and Jeanneret, C-E., 1920, "Sur la Plastique", L'Esprit Nouveau, no. 1; and Ozenfant, and Jeanneret, C-E., 1921, "Le Purisme". 23 Ibid. 24 See Green, c., 1987, Cubism and its Enemies (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press), 90-91, for a discussion on the discrepancies between purist theory and purist paintings, particularly with regard to colour. 98 "So full a development of a formaf language, and so strong an emphasis on the abstract ideafs of harmony and precision, might seem to lead somewhere very different from the bottles and guitars of purist paintings: a strictly arcrutecturaf paintmg seems at first the most logicaf result - an elaborate but muted version ofDe Stijl. Yet, Purism's insistence on the old subject matter of Analytical and Synthetic Cubism is no mean compromise; it, too, is the result of a strict investigation of the means and ends of art. " i) La S£leetion Naturelle, La Selection Mecanique In response to the Cubists' failure to address the prevailing Zeitgeist and coinciding Machine Age, the Purists expanded their artistic focus by facilitating utilitarian considerations, identifying Functionalism as their principal conceptual point ofdeparture. By extending their preoccupation with order and harmony, the Purists inferred that all scientific enquiry is motivated by the sustained quest for order, and the need of our minds to conceIve or create equilibrium (Green, 1991: 83-84). 15 Moreover, the autliors argued tEat all scientific discoveries relate, in one way or another, to nature. Technological inventions - the machine, in particular - are the physical manifestations of this ongoing process of enquiry into nature. Accordingly, science and the machine were equated with nature since they collectively respond to the identical laws of harmony, selection and economy. Consider the following translated extract from La Peinture Moderne (1925): "Purism has brought to light the Law of Mechanical Selection [sic]. This establishes that objects tend toward a type that is determined by the evolution of forms between the ideal of maximum utility, and the satisfaction of the necessities of economical manufacture, which conform inevitably to the laws of nature." (Banham, 1960a; 1996: 211) Concurring with Classicism, the human body (as the primary exemplar of nature) was, yet again, sourced as the most convincing demonstration of thi-s disposition (Golding, 1994: 143-144). 16 In addition, the human body illustrates not only one, but two, underlying systems of order. The human physique, on the one hand, is an obvious embodiment ofcompositional order due to the harmonious, numerical relationships of the respective (body) parts to the whole. Human anatomy, on the other hand, reveals a utilitarian sense of order: the format ofthe difIerent organs is the result of continuous, evolutionary adaptations to functional requirements. Due to this tendency towards greater economy of effort, an equally harmonious relationship is established between the function of the organ and its corresponding and resultant format. The correlation between form and function due to 'economical effort', was qualified as the "principle of selection", termed selection naturelle - when demonstrated in natural phenomena - and selection mecanique - when applicable to man-made, mechanical artefacts. Thus, the Purists propagated what Golding (ibid.: 144) terms an "up-to-date mechanized fOrm of Classicism", and had established the conceptual criterion for selecting and identifying the subject matter of their paintings. This is explained in "Le Purisme" (1921) as follows: "Primary forms and colours have standard properties (universal properties permitting the creation of a transmissible plastic language). But the use of primary forms does not enable the artist to put the spectator in the desired mathematical state. For that he has to call on associations of natural or artificial forms, and in choosing them the criterion is the degree of selection at which certain elements have arrived (natuniT selection and mechanical selecfion)." (Baker, 1996: 242) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 25 With reference to Ozenfant, 1924, "Certitude, no. 1"; and Ozenfant, 1925, "Certitude, no. 2". See also Le Corbusier, 1923; 1987, Towards a New Architecture; and Le Corbusier, 1925; 1987, The Decorative Art ofToday, for the role of the machine and technology in society. 26 With reference to an unspecified article by the purist authors published in 1923/4 in L 'Esprit Nouveau, no. 21. 99 ii) Objets-Types The Purists subsequently identified specific artefacts which not only demonstrated tills conceptual premise, but also epitomized l'esprit nouveau. Hence mass-produced, "tools ottlieinaustrial' cuTture" qualified as objets-types - were selected as the artistic means with which to convey their theories. Drinking glasses, laboratory flasks, bottles, musical instruments, books, smoking pipes, reading glasses, and so forth, were identified as those objects that encapsulated the utilitarian sense of order, and that adhered to the principle of mechanical selection. These objets-types contained no superfluous appendages since they had evolutionary been 'purified' in response to specific utilitarian requirements form following function in the most puritanical sense of the definition. In the words of Green (1991: 83): "The bottles and guitars of Purist paintings are therefore objects in which order has been found. The qualities of that order are clear, for tIle objects .01Purist paintings are otcourse 'objets-types'. They are qualities of a humanist functionalism: the qualities that follow from absolute efficiency - precision, simplicity and proportional harmony. " This reasoning explains the Purists' preoccupation with subject matter similar to that of the Cubists, which, particularly during the analytical and synthetic stages of Cubism, often qualified as objets-types. However, to the Cubists the conceptual significance of the subject matter was inCIdental. The subject matter was simply a means to an end; a veIiicIe tIlat illustrated an artistic process. The Purists, oy contrast, maintained that their subject matter encompassed an intellectual significance that exceeded artistic purposes. Consequently, art tIlat explored formal themes only was dismissed as ornamental, and was said to disl?lay the artist's inability to grasp and give expression to the order displayed in the supposed disorder of his immediate surroundings (ibid.). Therefore, the compositions of bottles and guitars depicted by Ozenfant and Le Corbusier were not only structured differently, but were also painted for completely different conceptual reasons than those by Picasso and Braque. Furthermore, purist paintings synthesized two independent, though interrelated, manifestations of order: firstly, a utilitarian notion of order - demonstrated in the selection of the subject matter and, secondly, the customary, compositional system of order - exemplified in the structuring of the pictorial organization. Due to the prominence given to the machine in the crystallization of purist theory, the question arises as to why no mechanical device was ever reproduced. in their paintings as the Orphists and the Futurists had done. Although incessantfy extoIIiiJ.g tIle virtues oItIle machine - the epitome of the new spirit and ethos of precision - it was never considered an objet-type. It was argued that the machine could never exist as a constant value amidst ever-changing, advancIDg technology, and it would always be superseded by another and more effective model (ibid.: 82). Even though the oojet-type was expendable (metaphorically referred to as "a machine for drinIGng,r, "a machine for reading", etc.), it qualified as a formal invariable, whereas the machine did not - hence its disqualification as an objet-type and, consequently, as a subject for portrayal. Despite the fact that the human figure exemplifies both systems of underlying order, the Purists also refrained from its portrayal because it too easily appeals to subjective interpretation. Oojets-types, on the other hand, are devoid of any distracting associations and exist, furthermore, as industrialized, generic prototypes - a criterion obviously not met by natural phenomena. Consider the following rationale presented in La Peinture Moderne (1925): "... Purism begins with elements chosen from existing objects, extracting their most specific forms. It draws preference from among those that serve the most direct of human uses; those which are like extensions of man's limbs, and thus of an extreme intimacy, a banality that makes them barely exist as subjects of interest in themselves, and hardly lend themserves to anecdote ... This double play of [the] laws [of mechanical selection] has resulted in the lOO creation of certain number of objects that may thus far be called standardised ... Purism has thus far limited its choice to these objects." (Banham, 1960a; 1996: 211) Ozenfant and Le Corbusier did, however, start to introduce natural phenomena - the female figure, in particular - to their paintings from approximately 1926, although by then these two artists were working independently. The emergence of so-called objets a reaction poetique (objects of a poetic reaction) signified a. dramatic change in both attitude and doctrine: Purism had run its course. In summary, Purism materialized in reaction to the ostensible denciencies of Cubism.. Purist artistic doctrine consisted of two distinct components: the one apropos pictorial conventions, the other in reference to conceptual considerations. These premeditated cnteria both motivated and substantiated the choice of purist subject matter, and also provid-ed tile pIctorial framework fOr Its depiction according to certain hierarchial distinctions and metaphysical canons. Given this mindset, the Purists, according to Baker (1996: 243), conSIdered the abstract compositions of Mondrian and Kandinsky flawed because they had only established "a framework for Ipainterly] action" and did not pursue It beyond that. It was ultimately the conceptual approach to the object - the utilItarian significance ascribed to the subject matter - that heralded the artistic autonomy of Purism. In the words of Green (1991: 83-84): "The subject-matter of their still-lifes ... [puts] their painting into direct contact with the practical world of engineering ... constructing a bridge between the practical and the aesthetic spheres ... A firm grip is kept on their 'objet type' starting point and in this way the practical order of functional efficiency is joined to aesthetic order: cubist method loses all trace of ambiguity: it becomes the Instrument of a pliilosopby as all-embracing as De StijI, but independent of it. " 7.5.4 Purist Aesthetic Doctrine The principal tenet of purist philosophy concerned the establishment of order - not only the creation of order, but also the recognition thereof Presumabfy, one can onfy create (or re-create) order once It Ilas been recognized. The notable distinction to create order - instead of beauty - was an aspect central to the crystallization of purist aesthetic doctrine. The Purists' admiration for the visual harmony inherent In edifices of Greek antiqUIty, coupled with their deep-seated commitment to the Zeitgeist of 20th century, Inspired their cfesire to formulate a latter-day aesthetic doctrine based on universal canons (amplified by the lack of order in cubist compositions). The synthesis of the metaphysical numerology ofPythagoras, Platonic doctrine of Ideal Form, and the Periclean order (as referred to by Geoffrey Baker, 1996: 242) demonstrated in the Parthenon, provided the Purists with the intellectual impetus for developing their own theoretical position in relation to an industrial phenomonology. On the authority of Bosson (1995b: 32), the Purists' qualified beauty as "the resonance within us through which we experience purity and the regulated order of things". According to such a definition, aesthetic appreciation was the emotive recognition of the numerological order exempJiffed In tile structure (or compilation) of nature and certain man-made artefacts, which, supposedly, appeals instinctively to our aesthetic sensibilities. From their discovery that the entities that met their first aesthetic criterion were also utilitarian (the human body being the prime example), emerged the Purists' seminal theoretical position with regard to Functionalism. Consequently, their definition of beauty was verified - if not expanded - by the example of functional adaptation. Therefore, man-made artefacts that embody the process of formal purification - arrived at via mechanical selection and economicaf effort in response to their respective functions - would qualify as symbols ofbeauty and perfection. In an interview Bosson (ibid.: 34) conducted with Ozenfant during "the 1960s". he commented th::lt "If 101 blind nature, which has created the egg, was to produce bottles it would probably shape them the same way a machine created by human intelligence does". Bosson (1995b: 34) heeds that this assumption coincided with the viewpoint of philosopher Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) that "art should imitate nature in its mode of operation", and also finds support in the words of German phenomenologist Max Scheler (1874-1928) that "even the useful becomes beautiful when its usefulness has been perfected". Green (1991: 81) is of the opinion that purist aesthetic theory can be regarded an extension of Renaissance Humanism because of the consideration to the interpretation of Man's basic needs (equated with the quest for order and harmony). Green qualifies the Purists' position with regard to function as a humanist Functionalism and draws attention to the fact that Purism had "brought into being a humanist art without the human figure". Bosson (1995b: 34), on the other hand, refers to a metaphysical Functionalism, stating that "it is here that the Purists move onto a metaphysical level: it is not a question of utility, but about that which, through perfection itself, surpasses the spheres of rational points of view and thereby emerges in the realm of beauty". Her presupposition finds corroboration in a statement by Le Corbusier from an early article, entitled "Vers une architecture", dated 1918, but evidently published in L 'Esprit Nouveau in 1920/1: "It is not a question ofutility ... Architecture lies beyond the utilitarian ... through the linking of forms the architect [or the artist] awakens deep resonance within us. He provides us with an order's objective that is felt to coincide with an order in the world, it fosters different feelings in heart and spirit; it is here that we experience beauty." (ibid.: 32) To the Purists, Functionalism was not merely a yardstick of utility. It was a consideration with a distinct aesthetic component by means of which the Gestalt of the object had been perfected in response to its function. (The value judgement inherent in 'perfection' was somewhat unconvincingly qualified. However, the Purists did stipulate that harmony of proportion should serve as an additional, if not final, consideration. 27 Stylistic [or formal] variation meeting this 'proportional criterion', was an aspect neither Le Corbusier nor Ozenfant cared to consider or expand upon.) It was ultimately the harmonious correspondence between form and function that was considered beautiful, and not the object per se. In other words, the object is beautiful only when the correlation between its function and formal appearance has been perfected; when the inherent need to create order has been satisfied; and the aspiration to create harmony has been established. Hence the Purists' equation of the Parthenon with Einstein's calculations ('Green, 1991: 81), 28 since both endeavours fulfil the same basic human desire: the need of our minds to conceive equilibrium (Einstein) and the need of our senses to perceive it (the Parthenon). Thus, the same of beauty attributed to the Parthenon was extended to the ordered thinking ofEinstein. It is therefore task of the artist, the architect, the engineer, and even the scientist, to create order and harmony - the man-initiated processes through which we can arrive at, or experience, beauty. These contentions find support in Le Corbusier's comparison in Vers une Architecture (1923; 1987: 85-148) of the Parthenon with engineered phenomena - the automobile, aeroplane and ocean liner - since these artefacts demonstrate collectively the corresponding notions of order, harmony and beauty. In their very first purist publication, Apres le Cubisme of 1918, the authors stated that "We can achieve our own Parthenon, because our epoch is better equipped for reaching the ideal of perfection than it was at the time ofPericles" (Bosson, 1995b: 29) - sentiments that were echoed in Vers une Architecture. -------------------------------------------------~---------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 Green (1991: 82) cites an example, presumably from Ozenfant and Jeanneret, C-E., 1921, "Le Purisme", regarding different bridges that are all equally effectively designed. The engineer becomes an 'artist' when he selects the one most harmonious in its proportions. 28 With reference to an unspecified article by the purist authors published in 1923 in L'Esprif Nouveau, no. 19. 102 The 'true' artist is the one who can instinctively recognize and give expression to these harmonious manifestations - "a medium", according to Bc;>sson (1995b: 33), "whose task it is to reveal the beauty of this world". Such reasoning explains why the Purists never abstracted their subject matter beyond recognition. Any such attempts would have obscured the conceptual significance of their 'transmitters ofbeauty'. Green (1991: 79) points out: "What Cocteau dubbed 'The call to order' was [met] by Ozenfant and Jeanneret with fervour, a feeling of revolutionary purpose, and a full appreciation of cultural guerilla tactics. " Thus, the Purists succeeded in est~blishing ap aesthetic criterion that was not only applicable to the identification and portrayal of artistic subject matter, but also pertinent to the creation of artefacts and, in particular, the design of buildings. At the same token, just as the house was qualified as a machine for living, purist painting was regarded a machine aemouvoir - a machine provoking emotion. As an aesthetic mechanism, purist paintings celebrated the accomplishments of contemporary life and industrialized society, as well-as epitomizing the universal canons of beauty. 7.6 PURISTPAINTING 7.6.1 Introduction In order to evaluate the application of these elaborate theoretical points of view, and also to be able to assess the corresponding influence between Le Corbusier's artistic pursuits and his architecture, a chronological review of his purist paintings is deemed necessary. The following analysis is restricted to Le Corbusier's paintings, which, during the initial stages of Purism, were very similar to those by Ozenfant. It was only from 1923 that a difference in their respective approaches became noticeable. Nonetheless, their fundamental aesthetic premises remained the same. Although no complete overview ofLe Corbusier's paintings has been encountered to date, it was possible to examine a reasonably comprehensive body of work, but derived from different sources. The most notable included the catalogue from the retrospective exhibition on Le Corbusier's artistic and architectural achievements, hosted at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence in 1963, and a catalogue frqm a more recent exhibition, entitled "Le Corbusier, Architect and Painter", hosted in Copenhagen in 1995. Based on available data, purist painting can be divided into three stages: The inception of the first period, dated, for the purposes of this study, from 1918 to 1919, coincided with the publication of Apres le Cubisme and consequently focussed on the formal integrity and actuality of the subject matter. It was also the most rudimentary and representational phase of purist painting, only starting to address compositional organization. The second period, dated from 1920 to 1921, coincided with - if not pre-empted - the publication of purist aesthetic doctrine in L 'Esprit Nouveau. It is generally regarded as the mature stage ofPurism as all the unsatisfactory pictorial relationships experienced during the previous phase had been resolved. This phase consisted of the juxtaposition and distillation of the subject matter, concurring with the analytical stage of Cubism. The third and last period dates from approximately 1922 until the official dissolution of Purism in 1925. This stage is comparable to the synthetic stage of Cubism in that the disintegrated, fragmented subject matter was reassembled into complex, graphic compositions. In the case of Le Corbusier, the end date can be extended to 1927, since his pictorial explorations during the two years after 1925 continued along similar lines. 103 It is important to note the following: 1. As comprehensive as the theoretical component ofPurism was documented, it would be erroneous to assume that these postulates were clarified, or even articulated, right from the outset. Although the showing of the first purist paintings by Le Corbusier and Ozenfant coincided with the publication ofApres le Cubisme, it was only during the next two years that their artistic conventions were determined and their conceptual premises ratified - partly in keeping with their prejudiced philosophical convictions, but also in response to certain pictorial discrepancies that were encountered. By way of example, research conducted by Baker (1996: 247) indicates that it was only in April 1919 that the architect first adopted. the use of so-called traces regulateurs - regarded by Le Corbusier (1923; 1987: 75) "an insurance against capriciousness" - to regulate the pictorial structure of his compositions. As far as could be established, the term objet-type first appeared in print in October 1920. It was thus only from that time onwards that the Purists' artistic and conceptual criteria were fully developed and pre-empted further investigation. 2. Despite their criticism that the indiscriminate distortions of Synthetic Cubism distracted from the intellectual significance of the subject matter, the Purists were never adverse to the novel pictorial techniques of simultaneity and abstraction. Since Cubism had already undergone its different stages of transformation at the time of the genesis ofPurism, Ozenfant and Le Corbusier could be more selective in the manner in which they wished to adopt, or apply, the cubist modus operandi. 3. Green (1987: 90) points out that purist doctrine, as first communicated L'Esprit Nouveau in 1920, remained unaltered over the next five years. The Purists, however, never addressed the evolutionary changes that occurred in their paintings during that time, which often contradicted some oftheir initial statements. As Green (ibid.) puts it: "Between 1920 and 1925 the Purists' theory ofpainting stayed still as if frozen. It is a sign of the theory's lesser status in practice that during those five years Purist painting actually changed; enough, on the one hand to reveal unsuspected room for flexibility in their theory of form, and on the other effectively to undermine the authority oftheir statements about colour. " 4. Green (ibid.: 91) is moreover of the opinion that the methodological approach adopted by the Purists was essentially analytical, even though its last, and most complex, phase can in some respects qualify as synthetic due to the re-assembly of the analyzed subject matter. In Green's own words (ibid.): "Broadly speaking, there can be no doubt that Purist painting was analytical, not synthetic, and even in 1925 the explanatory presentation of 'type-objects' was central ... by 1922 they were constructing their pictures with a freedom and formal bias closely attuned to Synthetic Cubism." Despite Green's contention regarding the "explanatory presentation" of the objets-types, there is little doubt that during the last stages of, particularly, Le Corbusier's work, there was a considerable lapse of emphasis on the conceptual significance of the subject matter, and his compositions were dominated by a distinct graphic virtuosity. 5. Space precludes the individual recording of every purist painting by Le Corbusier. Consequently, general characteristics have to suffice. Moreover, given the fact that a complete inventory ofLe Corbusier's purist paintings does not exist, the following conclusions are restricted to available data. 6. The particular divisions and accompanying titles were coined for the purposes of review and do not enjoy general currency. 7.1 Rudimentary Purism: La Cheminee [Acropolis} (1918). 7.2 Rudimentary Purism: Nature Morte avec Libre, Verre et Pipe (1918). 7.3 Geometric investigations (1919). 7.4 First studies of traces regulateurs (April 1919). 104 7.6.2 Rudimentary Purism (1918-1919) This exploratory stage of Le Corbusier's paintings is the most varied and therefore difficult to ascribe general characteristics to it. Notwithstanding, the formal appearance of the subject matter remained consistently intact and the actuality of the depicted objects, although increasingly stylized, dominate in all instances. Also conspicuous is the careful selection of the subject matter - cubes, eggs, set-squares, sheets of paper, and so forth - which later either qualified as objet-types, or reinforced an idealized formalism due to their inherent geometric propensity. La Cheminee (Acropolis, 1918,fig. 7.1) and Nature Morte avec Libre, Verre, et Pipe (1918,fig. 7.2) were Le Corbusier's first ever oil paintings, also to be exhibited at Galerie Thomas, but are very different from each other. Although La Cheminee is documented to have been painted first (Baker, 1996: 246), it appears at odds within this sequence. La Cheminee is extremely minimal in content, but its compositional arrangement and obscure vantage point already alludes to a reverence that transcends the banality of the subject matter. Baker (ibid.) maintains that La Cheminee "highlights Jeanneret's main problem ~t this stage, this being to deploy the objets-types on the pictorial surface in ways that would propound the Purist message with conviction11 • Following the hostile reception these paintings received by art critic Vauxcelles (ibid.: 247), Le Corbusier investigated the application of numerlogic conventions to regulate the structure of his compositions. Surviving sketches, presently housed at the Fondation Le Corbusier in Paris (jigs 7.3-7.4), indicate that it was only once Le Corbusier employed the same ordering device that he had already introduced into his architecture with the design of Villa Jeanneret, La Chaux-de-Fonds, in 1912, that he was able to establish a satisfactory relationship between the objects and the over-all picture plane. A geometric discipline had been spawned. On the authority of Joyce Lowman (1976: 91), Le Corbusier made the following unsourced statement: "My first picture was done without 'guiding lines'. The second one also. But beginning with the third, I no longer felt that I had any right to avoid the obligation of organizing the elements of the poem which I had gathered together, whether it was a facade or a ground plan or a cross-section or a picture. " The next two paintings, Le Bol Blanc (jig. 7.5) and Le Bol Rouge (jig 7.6), date from 1919 and demonstrate the application of traces regulateurs, presumably corresponding to the ratio of the favoured Golden Section. Not only the position, but also the angle of the scrolls illustrated in both paintings had been determined by underlying construction lines. Le Corbusier also introduced a bowl rather uneasily poised on the edge of a cube. This dramatic exordium must have been deliberate, teasing the viewer and drawing attention to a visibly controlled compositional dynamicism. Although shadow and shade had thus far been employed to convey the volumetric propensity of the subject matter, the gradual stylization of the objects indicates that representation is surpassed by more profound concerns and symbolic intentions. According to Baker (1996: 251), Nature Morte a l'Oeuf(1919,fig. 7.7) was the Le Corbusier's next painting, and, as far as it can be established, the final example of this rudimentary phase of Purism. This painting is particularly significant, judging from its numerous preliminary sketches (jigs 7.8-7.9). One such drawing, catalogued as Etude Puriste Objets: Bouteille, Carafe, Livre, Pipe. (jig. 7.10), is especially informative in that it illustrates the assortment of objects that the Purists had by that time identified as suitable material with which to conduct their artistic investigations. It is impossible to establish whether it was entitled puriste objets at that time or in retrospect. Notwithstanding, the identified artefacts qualify as objets-types, demonstrating the Purists' subsequent theoretical conjectures. 7.5 Rudimentary Purism: Le B01 Blanc (1919). 7.7 Rudimentary Purism: Nature Morte Cl l'Oeuf(1919). 7.9 Studies for Nature Morte CL l'OeufCl919). 7.6 Rudimentary Purism: Le B01 Rouge (1919). 7.8 Studies for Nature Morte Cl l'Oeuf(1919). 7.10 Etude Puriste, Objets: Bouteille, Carafe, Livre, Pipe (1919). 105 Oddly enough, none of these preliminary studies indicate any regulating lines. Yet, the distinctly symmetrical composition, the calculated distribution of counter-balanced subject matter, and mathematiclly determined divisions of the foreground and background vacuously display an underlying system of control. (Baker [1996: 252] is of the opinion that Le Corbusier used transparent overlays to determine the pictorial order of his compositions and that these have in all likelihood been destroyed.) The merging of certain objects in Nature Morte a !'Oeuj is also far more dramatic than that in the previous two still-lifes, creating novel pictorial relationships. With this particular painting, Le Corbusier had discarded most tonal differentiation and was exploring instead projected shadows and silhouettes. These 'shadow profiles' violated all representational drawing conventions in that (irrespective of the number of light sources) shadows were cast simultaneously in different directions, and even projected a considerable distance away from the object. This peculiar technique also amplified the formal structure of the objet-type that would henceforth be utilized to great effect. It is not a particularly meritorious painting since certain pictorial relationships remained unresolved, displaying also a perturbing sense of scale. The sizes of the objets-types appear much too small in relation to the format of the canvas. Yet, the painting's overriding value lies in its transitionary capacity, and in the numerous creative possibilities and latent ambiguities that were to be explored in the ensuing years. Although all these compositions were divided consistently into a foreground and a background, there is no hierarchial distinction between the sizes of the objects and the relative positions that they occupy - whether in relation to one another, or to the whole. Notwithstanding, the compositions continue to convey a distinct sense of pictorial depth. Reichlin (1997: 196, 197) is of the opinion that these embryonic paintings indicate that Le Corbusier was, from the outset and in keeping with the aspectival developments in the visual arts, preoccupied with a premeditated spatial ambiguity: "Here the formal shapes, dimensions, and scaling of the [subject matter] are as clear and intelligible as anything in a Flemish still life. What is problematic is the arrangement of these objects in space, which does not conform to naturalistic canons of perspective." "To an illusionistic, 'naturalistic' transcription of objects purist painting opposes a compositional strategy that no longer refers to objects but only to their forms, to 'pictorial remains' subjected to a formalization that heeds only to the compositional and spatial requirement of the painting. " 7.6.3 Volumetric Purism (1920 -1921) Le Corbusier's paintings dating from this supposedly mature stage of Purism, are characterized by an amalgamation of the objets-types; the adoption of the cubist technique of simultaneity; and a distinctly volumetric (sculptural, even tectonic) quality. Due to the reliance on algebraic organizational principles, the compositions exhibit the visual equilibrium to which the Purists were so ardently committed (fig. 7.11). Although the fusion of the objets-types eroded the delineation of the respective forms, the autonomy of the artefacts is still clearly recognizable. In addition, the introduction of multiple views emphasized the conceptual significance of the object, being far more informative about its appearance than during the preceding phase. Whereas the artefacts previously dominated as isolated objects in space and merged only tentatively, they were now compressed: placed in front, behind and on top of one another. Due to a sudden increase of scale, the distribution of the subject matter was no longer restricted by the confines of the picture plane. Parts of the objets-types which would have projected beyond the canvas were disassembled and incorporated elsewhere. Furthermore, the superimposed objets-types exist as orthographic projections that were extrapolated simultaneously in more than one direction (fig. 7.12). Even though orthography (whether axonometric or isometric) is a drawing convention conducive to the simultaneous portrayal of different points of view. Le Corbusier incomorMp.rl llrlrlitil'\noJ ,,"...+...~n 7.11 Volumetric Purism: Composition ala Guitare et ala Lanterne (1920). 7.13 Volumetric Purism: Nature Morte au Voilin Rouge (1920). 7.12 Volumetric Purism: Guitare Verticale, no. 1 (1920). 7.14 Volumetric Purism: Nature Morte ala Pile d'Assiettes (1920). 106 points to emphasize the underlying geometric structure of the artefact and its mode of assembly. Reichlin (1997-198) comments: " ... the viewer is confronted by a curiously frontal axonometric projection in which objects seem to float, compressed and driven out toward the viewer. But this is only a way station on the road to a type of representation where what at first appears to be a form ofaxonometry proves instead to be an illusion that adroitly betrays our habits of perception. Indeed, it is the product of a manipulation that mixes two sorts of projection - one vertical, the other frontal - and forces the viewer to become cross-eyed in o~der to decipher the overall effect ... " Due to the inherent three-dimensional quality of orthographic projections, the artefacts display a far greater degree of solidity than during the previous stage when they were realistically depicted (fig. 7.13). According to the interview conducted with Bosson (1995a: 14) in 1962, Le Corbusier ascribed the increase in volumetric velocity to his loss of stereoscopic vision: "I'm unable to perceive the third dimension with my eyes. Perhaps that is the reason why I've sought to get behind things, to get into their volume from all sides, and into their structure and core ... The loss ofmy stereoscopic vision made me want to create paintings which could be translated into sculptures." The voluminousness of the objects was further reinforced by tonal variation and shading. Shadows were used to echo the shape of the objects, and also to accentuate the contrast between the three-dimensional - volume - and the two-dimensional - shape (fig. 7.14). Whereas colour had previously been employed to differentiate between the object and the background, it was now used as the principal medium to distinguish one artefact from another. Despite the lack of perspective, and the avoidance of any hierarchial distinction between the artefacts and the relative positions they occupy, the compositions are extremely spatial - inevitably due to the nature of orthographic projections. The manner in which the objects were superimposed also created a distinctly layered sense of space - reading as objects of space, set in space. The introduction of architectural drawing conventions to still-life painting is significant in that it supplied fine arts with an additional method to create pictorial depth - a contribution unique to the Purists. 29 The Purists actually stated in "Le Purisme" (1921) that perspective only offered "a particular and hence an incomplete angle ... [appealing] nearly exclusively to sensations of a secondary order and is consequently deprived of what could be universal and durable" (Naegele, 1995: 94). Reichlin (1997: 199) adds: "Purist paintings certainly suggest depth, volume, and space. But they also deprive the eye that [visual] reassurance ... [that] was the driving force behind the invention of perspective. " The fusion of the different objets-types not only created intricate formal and spatial relationships, but also enabled endless variety achieved with a relatively limited artistic arsenal. Moreover, these investigations heightened an awareness of the pictorial ambiguities inherent in volume versus plane, solid versus void, opacity versus transparency, and positive versus negative - plastic characteristics which precipitated the most exuberant phase ofPurism. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 29 To date, the only other painterly examples of orthographic projections that have been encountered include those by the Suprematists, Klutsis and Lissitzky, and Van Doesburg. However, their renderings were distinctly architectural in content. By contrast, Le Corbusier's adaptations, although of architectural origin, were totally unrelated to architecture. 7.15 Fragmented Purism: Nature Morte au Siphon (1921). 7.17 Fragmented Purism: La Bouteille de Vin Orange (1922). 7.19 Fragmented Purism: IIT~+.. v~ ~Ar> ..+" nrtV 1I.TnWlhrpn1/Y nhipts: (1923), 7.16 Fragmented Purism: Nature Morte Pale Cl la Lanterne (1922). 7.18 La Bouteille de Vin Orange with regulating lines. 7.20 Fragmented Purism: Bouteille et Livre (1926). 107 7.6.4 Fragmented Purism (c. 1922-1925/7) From approximately 1922 onwards, the distinctly voluminousness of the preceding compositions was increasingly surpassed by an interest in the planimetric aspects of the subject matter. However, the disconcerting spatial readings achieved during the previous phase continued to fascinate the artist, and were even further exploited through the contrasting effects of volume versus shape, and positive versus negative shadow profiles (jigs 7.15-7.18). Having discarded the orthographic, Le Corbusier now generously employed the cubist technique of disassembly and reconstruction, and in the process discovered a novel range ofgeometric configurations that he explored to great effect. By 1923, the objects in Le Corbusier's paintings started to multiply. 30 The objets-types were also combined with fragments of their vivisected views, resulting from previous explorations, and were reassembled into complex graphic montages. Although the different vantage points of the subject matter were often divorced from their sources of origin, the generating objets-types were still identifiable, but, significantly (and anonymously), referred to as Nature Morte aux Nombreaux Objets (Still-Lifes with Numerous Objects,fig. 7.19). The graphic quality of the artefacts seems to dominate, yet, Le Corbusier contiQued to create ambiguous spatial illusions. As Reichlin (1997: 200) poignantly remarks: "Here composition focused on a dominant center yields to a spatial texture animated by multiple centres of attention. ... No matter where the viewer looks, he is confronted by different and contradictory spatial constructs, as in the 'impossible spaces" created by M. C. Escher." The manner in which certain fragments of the objets-types were rendered still alluded to their own voluminousness, and the paintings hover between two-dimensional graphic assemblages and an overt sense ofdepth. This is particularly apparent in Bouteille et Livre (1926,fig. 7.20). This was undoubtably the most abstract phase of Purism. The past interest in the conceptual significance of the subject matter seems to have lapsed, and the plastic potential ofboth subject matter and composition has become the primary consideration. Green (1987: 91) concurs: "Their type-objects became as if elements of an abstract pictorial vocabulary to be manipulated as the need for rhyming relationships demanded. The symbolic connotational meanings carried by these objects were not lost, but they were, for the Purists, secondary, and therefore never diverted them from the essential 'purity' of their compositional inventions. " It is during this particular stage that the difference between Le Corbusier's and Ozenfant's paintings is most noticeable. Ozenfant followed the same pictorial procedure, but he remained committed to a far greater extent to the formal integrity of the objets-types. By contrast, Le Corbusier's work is more diversified, spatially complex and colourful. His graphic montages emanate a creative exuberance that were undoubtably explored towards their own artistic ends. The vast range of evocative and sensual shapes, coupled with a honed spatial sensibility, were to find recondite expression in his architecture. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 30 Golding (1994: 146) claims that Le Corbusier's sudden compositional enrichment was influenced by photographs of so-called verrerie du commerce (wares of commerce) - mass-produced items such as crockery and glass-ware. See examples in Le Corbusier, 1925; 1987, The Decorative Art ofToday: 94, 97. 7.21 Post-Purist: La ]oueuse d'Accordion [La Femme al'Accordion et le CoureurJ (1928). 7.23 Post-Purist: La Femme au Gueridon et au Fer it Cheval (1928). 7.25 Post-Purist: La Fille au Gardien de Phare (1929). 7.22 Post-Purist: Composition avec une Poire (1929). 7.24 Post-Purist: Nature Morte - Le BCtcheron (1931). 7.26 Post-Purist: La Danseuse et le Petit Felin (1932). 108 Daniel Naegele (1995: 93) observes: "[Le Corbusier's] Purist painting all conspires to create consciously contradictory readings at once both planar and spatially deep. The Purist canvas is replete with illusions. These illusions are, no doubt, in part the result of the rigid geometric regulation of the canvas and the contents specified in Purist theory." 7.6.5 Post-Purist Period (1928 and Beyond) Following the breach with Ozenfant in 1925, Le Corbusier continued to paint. The paintings that he produced between 1926 and 1927 are a visible extension of preceding explorations, but changed radically soon after. Bosson (1995b: 20) purports that Ozenfant had actually inhibited Le Corbusier's creativity and that the separation was advantageous: "After the break with Ozenfant Le Corbusier's rich imagination and creativity broke every -ism and also with all the programmatic and theoretically defined boundaries of the art form which was classified under the slogan of 'functionalism'. He lifts himself beyond this area to a freer creation of form which is most adequately ... comparable to the lyric creations of a Picasso or a Leger ... " Although difficult to date exactly when the human figure made its first appearance in Le Corbusier's paintings, it is clear that by 1928 the subject matter of Purism had lost its appeal (figs 7.21-7.22). In his interview with Bosson (1995a: 15) in 1962, Le Corbusier mentioned that he had tired of bottles as subject matter. In addition to the human figure and parts of the anatomy - the ear, bones and intestines - other natural phenomena, such as, shells, pine cones, pieces of rope and timber, were also depicted (figs 7.23-7.24). His sudden departure from objets-types to objects areaction poetique is generally ascribed to his relationship with his future wife Yvonne Gallis, whom he married in 1930. The softer, curvilinear shapes that emerged during the last phase of purist painting, coincide with the sensual curves ofthe human body and make the transition appear less abrupt than generally claimed. Le Corbusier's paintings from this point onwards became increasingly figurative, vacillating between a vast range of eclectic influences that make it difficult to categorize. Leger's work, especially his tubular treatment of the human figure, served as a prominent influence. In addition, Le Corbusier's paintings started to acquire a bizarre, even surreal, quality calling for a highly subjective interpretation (figs 7.25-7.26). 3\ However, his commitment to the structured organization of the composition never lapsed and remained a consistent feature throughout his entire career as a painter. (Refer to Composition avec une Poire, 1929, fig. 7.22, which includes the diagrammatic rendition of the Golden Section.) It is beyond the scope of this thesis to investigate how the changes in his art pre-empted his post-purist architectural development. Yet, it is worthy to note that, concurring with the introduction of the human figure, his paintings acquired a tactile and material sensibility that had been previously been lacking. This pictorial phenomenon precipitated the regionalist quality discernible in his architecture, commenced With in the design of PavilIon Suisse, Paris, of 1930. It was only after the Second World War in 1946, that Le Corbusier, together with carpenter Joseph Savina, started to translate his paintings into sculptures (figs 7.27-7.28). The ease with which these volumetric transformations occurred, anticipated the sculptural and biomorphic nature of the most poetic building of his (Euvre complete, La Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp (1953,figs 7.29-7.30). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 31 See Krustrup, M., 1995, "Persona", in Bosson, Von Moos, Naegele, et al., Le Corbusier, Painter and Architect: 118-158, for an eloquent review of the symbolism prevailing in Le Corbusier's post-purist paintings, which drew extensively upon Greek mythology, astrology and Judaeo-Christian religion. See also Coll, 1996, "Structure and Play in Le Corbusier's Art Work": 3-15. 7.27 Post-Purist: Ubo (1940). 7.29 Plan, La Chapelle de Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp (1955). 7.31 Jeanneret, Nnturp Mnrtp flU. Sinhon (1921). 7.28 Post-Purist: Ozon Opus 1 (1947). 7.30 La Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp (1955). 7.32 Picasso, Violin HanRinR on a Wall (1913). 109 7.7 PURISM, IN CONCLUSION In stark contrast with the dogmatism of the theoretical content of Purism, purist paintings convey a surprising cautiousness and puritanical restraint. Green (1991: 80) remarks: "... the elemental abstractions of De Stijl make the bottles and jugs of purist seem timid: Mondrian is dramatically quiet, the Purists are simply quiet. " Despite an extensively developed formal language and an elaborate aesthetic philosophy, the peintures puristes are often described as disappointing since it led to no more than calculated distillations of objets-types. When comparing cubist paintings of similar subject matter with those by the Purists (figs 7.31-7.32), it is not difficult to assess why Purism is not as esteemed as its precedent. The intuitively organized compositions of Picasso and Braque display a far greater degree of artistic virtuosity and creative exuberance than any ofLe Corbusier or Ozenfant - a view shared by Fry (1966: 171): "Unfortunately, the purist paintings of Ozenfant and Jeanneret are cubism stripped of all its spatial and formal tension, wit, and ambiguity: a sort of heretical, Calvinist cubism." In the final analysis, the profound conceptual claims attributed to the depicted subject matter are visually obscure and totally irrelevant to the uninformed viewer. It is also submitted that the space-time concept is more prevalent in the seminal cubist paintings than in any of the purist still-lifes. This statement is substantiated by the fact that Picasso and Braque were more selective in the views which they portrayed simultaneously, whereas the Purists depicted all the different views of an object at the same time. Due to this selectiveness, cubist paintings induce a greater degree of mystique and are, consequently, both more dynamic and participative, actively involving an imaginary reconstruction of the subject matter through time and in space. By contrast, purist paintings are informative. They describe the object: what it is and how it was constructed. Yet, the artefacts do not remotely have the same material sensibilty as exhibited in cubist paintings - an aspect one would have expected Le Corbusier, as an architect, to have considered and furthered. Instead, the Purists deliberately avoided all tactile sensation since it conflicted with their desire to create a generalized anonymity associated with an industrialized form of art. Amancio Guedes (1988: 23) makes the following observation: "They assembled their paintings not only out of standardized objects but out of standardized pictorial parts, as if in creative mimicry of mass production ... So careful are such paintings planned that their flat surfaces of colour rise in low plateaux of paint ... the result of a laborious and long process ... The process of painting had become the process of manufacturing an idea defined almost to the last detail. " Notwithstanding, the Purists introduced a novel method of three-dimensional representation to still-life painting - a contribution unique to all the cubist derivatives. They also succeeded in restoring the formal integrity of the subject matter as they had set out to do. They gave a greater degree of clarity to Picasso's shifting viewpoints, but the artistic implications, although more informative, are, regrettably, far less dynamic. This was particularly due to the artists' unyielding commitment to achieve visual harmony, coupled with the ciphered exactitude with which their paintings were excecuted. 110 It was only through Le Corbusier's architecture that the fonnallanguage of Purism would finally come into its own, reach true abstraction and achieve fruition. In Le Corbusier's own words from New Worlds ofSpace (1948a: 37): "The key to my creativity is my work in the field of painting which I took up in 1918 and have continued to practise daily. The basis of my intellectual quest and production lies in the uninterrupted pursuit of painting. It is here that the source ... of my work is to be found. 11 ------------------------------------------------------ ----~------------------------------------------------- ------------ 7.8 SUMMARY This chapter examined the cubist derivative, Purism, in order to establish a framework for reviewing the transfonnation of the architecture of Charles-Edouard Jeanneret / Le Corbusier. By Le Corbusier's own admission, his artistic investigations conducted from 1918 were the seminal influence on his development as an architect. Attention was drawn to the disturbing fact that this aspect is either underestimated or entirely overlooked by academics reviewing his architectural accomplishments. The inception ofPurism is ascribed to the initiative of French artist and critic Am6dee Ozenfant, who, since the mid 191Os, had been advocating a modem artistic expression that adhered to timeless and universal valves. Ozenfant's interest in Platonic doctrine coincided with the philosophical premises that had intrigued Le Corbusier since his fonnative years at La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Their shared sentiments culminated in the genesis of Purism - an artistic initiative which they believed would improve on the pictorial innovations of Cubism and finally succeed it. Purism was officially launched with a publication of the booklet Apres le Cubisme (After Cubism) in 1918 - an event that coincided with an exhibition of their first paintings that expounded purist aesthetic theory at Galerie Thomas in Paris. Although the Purists appreciated the reductive methodology of Cubism and employed its pictorial practice of simultaneity, their principal theoretical arguments focussed on its deficiencies. According to Ozenfant and Le Corbusier, these included the unwarranted distortion of fonn that undermined its conceptual content, the lack of sound compositional organization, and the failure to address l'esprit nouveau that was induced by the industrial Zeitgeist. Purist aesthetic doctrine consisted of two components: the one a propos pictorial conventions, the other with regard to conceptual considerations. These premeditated criteria both motivated and substantiated their choice of subject matter - qualified as objets-types - and provided the pictorial framework for their depiction according to certain hierarchial distinctions and metaphysical canons Euclidian geometry and proportion, in particular. The Purists' perception of beauty was also intimately connected to the utilitarian significance which they ascribed to their subject matter. They maintained that an object was beautiful once the correlation between function and fonn had been perfected, when the inherent need to create order had been satisfied, and the purported aspiration to create harmony had been established. Accordingly, it was the duty of the artist, and subsequently the architect, to mimic the harmony and order prevailing in nature through latter-day techniques. Purist painting can be divided into three stages. During the rudimentary stage, dating from 1918 to 1919, the fonnal appearance of the subject matter - so-called tools of the industrial culture - remained intact in order to convey their conceptual significance. The second stage, from 1920-1921, was characterized by the volumetric veloqity of the objets-types, depicted as orthographic renderings that projected simultaneously in all directions. During the last stage, from approximately 1922 until after the dissolution of Purism in 1925, the objets-types had been fragmented and were reassembled as complex graphic compositions. III Although purist paintings are not highly esteemed by art critics, it was the manner in which artistic and utilitarian premises were synthesized into a plausible aesthetic dogma that Purism demonstrated its independence from Cubism and other contemporaneous art movements. It was only through Le Corbusier's architecture that purist painting would reach fruition. 8.1 Villa Fallet, La Chaux-de-Fonds (1905). 8.2 Villa Stotzer, La Chaux-de-Fonds (1908). o O(o 8.3 Villa Jeanneret-Perret, La Chaux-de-Fonds (1912). 8.4 Villa Favre, Le Lode (1912). 8.5 Villa Schwob, La Chaux-de-Fonds (1916). 8.6 Villa Schwob, La Chaux-de-Fonds (1916). 112 CHAPTER 8 THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PURIST ART & PURIST ARCHITECTURE 8.1 PREFACE This chapter reviews the metamorphosis of Le Corbusier's purist architecture that had resulted from his artistic career. In order to so, reference is made to his architecture prior to the genesis ofPurism in 1918. This inquiry is restricted to Le Corbusier's domestic repertoire since the artistic influence is most noticeable in that particular genre ofbuilding. The introductory part of this chapter provides a synoptic review of the influences during Le Corbusier's formative years. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of the formal, conceptual, compositional and spatial correlations between his purist art and architecture. 8.2 INTRODUCTION (FORMATIVE YEARS, 1887-1916) Le Corbusier had long before the inception ofPurism in 1918 actively pursued a career as an architect. Following his decorative arts education and a rudimentary introduction to architecture at L'Ecole des Arts et Metiers, La Chaux-de-Fonds, 1 he designed his first building, Villa Fallet (jig. 8.1), at the age of eighteen in 1905 - though executed under the supervision of a local architect, Rene Chapallaz. Le Corbusier's travels from 1907 to 1911, contact with leading figures of the Modem Movement and apprenticeships served with Auguste Perret (1874-1954) between 1908 and 1909, and Peter Behrens (1868-1940) in 1910, contributed to the expansion of his architectural frame of reference way beyond the colloquial romanticism - steeped in the Art and Crafts and Art Nouveau traditions - advocated by his tutor, L'Eplattenier. The tempered, though distinctly classical, idiom of the houses produced immediately after Le Corbusier's return from his voyage d'orient, in 1911, deviated considerably from the amalgamated Jugendstil and Swiss vernacular of his earliest projects (jigs 8.2-8.4). Villa Schwob, La Chaux-de-Fonds (1916,fig. 8.5-8.6), the last commission dating from these formative years, serves as a summary of the contradictory influences that dominated his work during this period. In addition to historical references and the influence of the above-mentioned individuals, the theories of Loos, and the work of Viennese architect Josef Hoffman (1870-1956) 2 and Wright contributed to the project's realization. According to Von Moos (1968; 1975: 17), Villa Schwob "brought the chapter Charles-Edouard Jeanneret to a close" but he, nonetheless, "succeeded in translating the most contradictory influences of his day into a genuine and personal idiom. The result was a generous, elegant, if somewhat crowded and heterogeneous composition with an air of pretentiousness. It soon became apparent, however, that his development was to proceed in other directions. " However, the development of the Dom-ino structural system, commenced in October 1914, remains Le Corbusier's principal architectural accomplishment of his formative years. Since his exposure to Perret's work in Paris, Le Corbusier had been immersed in the potential of reinforced concrete - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Although Le Corbusier never received an official architectural education, Baker, G., 1996, Le Corbusier - The Creative Search (London: E & FN Spon), 13, mentions that he did study architecture for a year at L'Ecole des Arts et Metiers under L'Eplattenier's tutelage in 1904. Evidently, L'Eplattenier studied both art and architecture at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, but it is more likely that he only attended a course in the latter and was consequently not adequately qualified to register as a practising architect. As a result, Le Corbusier's architectural training must have been rudimentary and his technological knowledge minimal, hence his desire to serve apprenticeships to distinguished architects. 2 Many sources claim erroneously that Le Corbusier had also worked for Hoffmann. Baker (ibid.: 112), refers to an interview with Le Corbusier in the early 1960s in which he stated that he never did 8.7 Dom-ino structural prototype (1914). 8.8 Maison Monoi, project (1919). 8.9 Maison Citrohan 1, project (1920). 113 an enthusiasm shared with his childhood friend, Swiss engineer Max du Bois (1884-c. 1976). Du Bois was familiar with the technical aspects of reinforced concrete since he had translated into French in 1909 the first book on the subject, entitled Eisenbeton Bau (1906), by E. Mbrsch. 3 The anticipated destruction of the then-raging First World War prompted Le Corbusier's and Du Bois's investigation into the use of concrete in the domestic field. They were convinced that this building material, held in low esteem by the architectural profession and predominantly used in the field of engineering, woufd' be ideally suitable for housing constructed en masse. Their proposal of a reinforced concrete framework, termed Dom-ino - an amalgamation of the Latin for house (domus) and the game of domino - consisted of consecutive roof slabs, connected by a cantilevering staircase, and was supported by a grid of concrete columns (jig. 8.7). This structural prototype was to be prefabricated, erected on site and completed by its inhabitants - preferably using standardized building components. 4 The Dom-ino proposal was modelled on Mbrsch's monolithic frame design for factory construction and not the Hennibique system (designed by a French engineer of that name) as often claimed (Baker, 1996: 216). Although similar to the Hennibique system, Dom-ino differs with regard to the simplified columns that were recessed from the periphery of the roof and floor slabs. This modification, after Mbrsch's example, liberated the fa9ades from all structural constraints. Le Corbusier's and Du Bois' contribution was that they had developed a structural prototype that was suitable for domestic use. In the first volume ofhis Oeuvre Complete (1929; 1964: 13), Le Corbusier's reflects: "We have then produced a way of building - a bone structure - which is completely independent of the functional demands of the house plan ... allowing for numerous combinations ofinternal disposition and every imaginable handling of light on the fa9ade. " Unlike the two preceding models that relied exclusively on the pragmatics of load-bearing efficiencies, the dimensions of the various structural relationships were, from the outset, modified according to the ratios of the Golden Section. A comparison of the Dom-ino derivatives that were conceived of before and after Le Corbusier's intellectual alliance with Ozenfant, vividly demonstrate the influence of the visual arts on his consequential design repertoire. It was only after the genesis of Purism that the latent potential of this rudimentary structural innovation was taken advantage of Yet, as Alan Plattus (1987: 17) poignantly remarks: "That Le Corbusier could as early as 1915, identify the genenc conditions of modern construction, subject them to the typological analysis required by his classicizing predilections, and summarize the results in an icon so potent and concise that it would rival Laugier's primitive hut as a constructive emblem ofits era, is remarkable enough. " ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 See Lowman, 1., Oct. 1976, "Corb as Structuralist Rationalist", Architectural Review: 229-233, for an account of the prominent role Du Bois played in the development ofDom-ino. 4 Le Corbusier and Du Bois inferred that Dom-ino was to be prefabricated, but they did not elaborate. It is only in the chapter entitled "Mass-Production Houses" in Le Corbusier, 1923; 1987, Towards a New Architecture, trans. Morgan, M. (New York: Dover), 229-265, that the concept is expanded. Although admitting to the difficulties inherent in the mass-production of houses, Le Corbusier (ibid.: 233, 235) retorted with eternal optimism: "The difficulties of transport are at its height: it is clear that houses represent an immense tonnage. If it would be reduced four-fifths, that would indeed be up-to-date!", adding, "Will the yard soon be a factory? ... Nothing is ready, but everything can be done." 8.10 Les Irnmeubles-Villas, project (1922). 8.11 Dne Ville Contemporaine, project (1922). 114 8.3. PERIOD OF INVENTION (1917 - 1922) 8.3.1 Domestic Prototypes The genesis of Purism coincided with Le Corbusier's decision to move from Switzerland to France in February 1917. With the exception of an abortive housing scheme for Normandy, commenced in ay 1917 and of which but two of the intended 30 units were ultimately constructed, s Le Corbusier only managed to secure another built commission six years after the completion of Villa Schwob. Although financially one of the most adverse periods in his life, compounded by a series of failed commercial ventures, 6 the years between 1917 and 1922 were the most invigorating from a creative and intellectual point ofview. Peter Serenyi's reference (1975: 69) to this phase ofLe Corbusier's career as the "period of invention", is a fitting description of the priorities that the architect had identified and remained committed to from this point onwards. The adoption of the pseudonym "Le Corbusier" in 1920 was symbolical of the new theoretical insights gained during this period of academic consolidation and transformation. Apart from distinguishing himself as a writer, theorist and painter, Le Corbusier also furthered his architectural interests. In response to the modem polemics, investigations into so-called universal dwelling were pursued on both a micro and macro scale. This preoccupation led to the development of his pivotal generic housing prototypes, Maisons Monol (1919,fig. 8.8) and Citrohan (1920-1921, fig. 8.9); the collective housing unit, Les Immeuble-Villas (1922, fig. 8.10); and the ambitious and highly contentious urban planning proposals, Une Ville Contemporaine (1922, fig. 8.11) and Plan Voisin (1922). 8.3.2 Vers une Architecture Le Corbusier's theoretical inquiries culminated in the publication of his influential manifesto on modem architecture, Vers une Architecture, of 1923. 7 Although the first purist publication, Apres Le Cubisme of 1918, called for the establishment of a new artistic movement, Le Corbusier and Ozenfant had already alluded to a new type of architecture that would address the industrial Zeitgeist, as this translated extract from Bosson (1995b: 28-29) indicates: "A new spirt rules - an esprit nouveau. Buildings borne by this new spirit emerge everywhere, the seed of a new architecture. Here harmony, severity and a respect for regularity and clarity are already found. Huge buildings like bridges and factories already carry the seed for a new development .__ " These views were expanded upon in a series of articles published in L 'Esprit Nouveau which, but for one additional chapter, "Architecture et Revolution", were collectively published as Vers une Architecture_ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Baker (1996: 240) is the only source encountered that makes mention of the Normandy housing scheme that was allegedly traditional in appearance. 6 See Lowman, 1976, "Corb as Structuralist Rationalist": 229-233, for a detailed account of Le Corbusier's numerous, though unsuccessful, business ventures initiated after moving to Paris in 1917. In particular, Le Corbusier was intent on patenting the Dom-ino system but failed to find the necessary sponsorship - the primary reason for his emigration to France. 7 The extent of Ozenfant's co~tribution to Vers une Architecture has still not been clarified satisfactorily. Baker (1996: 267) mentions that Ozenfant ~aid at some unspecified occasion that he had only supplied the illustrations. However, Ozenfant, A., 1931; 1952, FoU~dations o/Modern Art (New York: Dover), 328, refers to joint authorship: "In L'Esprit Nouveau we presented a series of articles on architecture ... in 1923 some of these articles were remodelled and became the contents of Vers une Architecture. When the work was reprinted it bore the sole name, Le Corbusier". 115 In Vers une Architecture (1923; 1987: 19) Le Corbusier states that, when compared to the visual arts - "the first to have attained attunement with the epoch" - and the engineering profession - "the heroes of the new dawn" - the architectural discipline lagged far behind and existed in "an unhappy state of retrogression". Evidently, these fiustrations spawned his aspiration to provide a new theoretical foundation for an architectural expression that responded to modem circumstances. Vers une Architecture, although an iconography of modernity, was predicated upon classical aesthetic values. Its principal argument comprises a comparison of engineered phenomena with timeless, historical edifices, substantiated by biomorphic analogies: the principle that design evolution was based on economy of effort, and selection (a theme extensively explored in his seminal essay on purist art, "Le Purisme", of 1921). Von Moos (1979: 49) points out that the correlation between Classicism and industrial products was not new since this hypothesis had already been advanced by both Hermann Muthesius (1861-1927) and Behrens as part of Deutsche Werkbund philosophy, which Le Corbusier had been familiar with since working Behrens a decade earlier. Banham (1960a; 1996: 205), in turn, refers to Plato's implied reference to manufactured objects to which there was wide accent in artistic circles since 1911. Baker (1996: 268), however, maintains that the reason why Le Corbusier's precepts were so influential was "due to Le Corbusier's passionate advocacy of [these ideas], his skillful manipulation of the discussion to obscure deficiencies in the argument itself'. It is noteworthy that in addition to Vers une Architecture, Le Corbusier published three other books during this period. These included L'Art Decoratif Audjourd'hui, (The Decorative Art of Today), Urbanisme (The City ofTomorrow and its Planning) and La Peinture Moderne, all published in 1925. 8.3.3 Purist Villas (1923-1929) The years 1923 to 1929 were Le Corbusier's most productive from a practical point of view. Yet, despite his vision to create a social utopia comprising housing typologies for the idealized, egalitarian homme-type with his tabula rasa mindset, his theories were realized in a series of so-called bourgeois villas for the cultured few who could both appreciate and afford them. With the exception of the workers settlements at Liege and Pessac, and demonstration dwelling units built in Paris and Stuttgart, the Purist villas were individualized, programmatic adaptations of each of his client's requirements. However, Le Corbusier's stubborn commitment to theoretical prototypes enabled him to transcend compromise and circumstance, regarding every design commission as an opportunity to expand his plastic repertoire. 8 These designs were consistently based on the Citrohan prototype and Dom-ino structural model. His purist repertoire commenced with the designs of Villa Besnus (Villa Ker-Ka-Re), Vaucresson, and Atelier Ozenfant, Paris, in 1923, and culminated in the penultimate dwelling and ubiquitous icon ofmodernity, Villa Savoye, Poissy, completed in 1931. 8.4 THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PURIST ART AND ARCHITECTURE Despite Le Corbusier's reiteration of the dependence of his architecture on his paintings - albeit mostly later in his life and thus retrospectively - he failed to elaborate on this premise. It may have been that the connection between his purist art and architecture seemed so obvious to him that it required no clarification. However, considering that he was such an ardent theorist, coupled with the fact that his architectural premises were clarified in conjunction with his artistic doctrines, the omission of this corresponding influence is perplexing. The artistic reference is conspicuously absent when ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 Refer to Benton, T., 1987, The Villas of Le Corbusier 1920-1930 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press) for the most comprehensive documentation of the circumstances surrounding the realization of the respective purist villas. 116 examining Vel's une Architecture from that point of view. In this work, Le Corbusier (1923; 1987: 19, 20) commented only in passing on how painters and sculptors - "the champions of the art of today" had "outsped" the other arts. He also refrained from including any of his paintings to demonstrate the similarity in approach. When Le Corbusier (ibid.: 20) did refer to art, it was in a collective sense and merely how architecture qualified as a manifestation of art. Another possibility is that the artistic connection was an unpopular view which Le Corbusier intentionally down-played, especially when considering the inflammatory critique of 1929 by Czech architectural critic Karel Tiege (1929)975: 41,43) ofhis Mundaneum project, though applicable to all his purist buildings: "The Mundaneum, in its glaring historicism and academicism, reveals that in the modern world architecture as an art [sic] is impossible. Furthermore, the Mundaneum highlights the failure of those aesthetic and formalistic theories of Le Corbusier which we have always opposed from the constructivist viewpoint: the theory of the Golden Section, of geometric proportionality, in short all a priori aesthetic formulae deduced from a formalistic perception ofhistorical styles. " !I ... a fiasco of aesthetic theories and traditionalist superstitions ... " Tiege's views were shared by the Constructivists and the proponents of the Neue Sachlichkeit opinions that caused Le Corbusier considerable anxiety. 9 Notwithstanding, this study discovered that the connection between his art and architecture is far more complex and multi-faceted than Le Corbusier had inferred. To Bosson (1995b: 40), for example, a reading of his purist paintings - particularly, Nature Morte Pale Cl la Laterne (1922, fig. 7.16) evokes lyrical associations of cityscapes comprising an assortment ofbuilding types: "The bottles become towers, the dices are like small tower blocks in the urban picture, the drinking glass a rotunda with arcades. One finds bridges, gates, tunnels and labyrinths. The lid of the coffee pot make [sic] up a soft, rolling landscape which the surrounding architecture is adapted to. The mouth of the bottle is a pale moon. The eye runs across a greyish nacreous haze - perhaps it is the ambience ofParis?" Such preconceived analogies are questionable. Not only because they are highly subjective and architecturally prejudiced, but also because there is no written or verbal evidence that Le Corbusier's painterly imagery had been derived from, or intended to depict, anything other than utilitarian (versus habitable) artefacts. Perhaps with the exception of his very first purist still-life, La Cheminee - an abstract hommage to the Parthenon, hence the additional title Acropolis 10 - Le Corbusier never incorporated any built structures into his paintings, which serves as a case in point. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9 According to Serenyi, P. (ed), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall), 3-4, the first critiques on Le Corbusier's architecture appeared in the late 1920s and represented two schools of thought. The so-called conservatives - German historian Comelius Gurlitt and the English critics, Trystan Edwards and S. D. Adshead- found his urban proposals outrageous and communist in orientation. The second contingent - including Tiege, Lissitzky and Hannes Meyer - represented the Marxist-inspired views of the Neue Sachlichkeit. They, in turn, were eminently critical of Le Corbusier's aesthetic approach to his work, which, in their opinion, was contrary to utilitarian considerations. Le Corbusier took their criticism to heart by reiterating his commitment to a machine-inspired Functionalism - though combined with "poetic imagination" - in his article "Defense de l'Architecture", published in Tiege's journal Stavba in 1929. 10 Naegele, D., 1995, "Photographic Illusionism and the 'New World of Space'" in Bosson, V, Von Moos, S. and Naegele, D., et al., Le Corbusier, Painter and Architect, exhibition catalogue, Nodjyllands Kunstmuseum, Copenhagen (Denmark: Linde Tryk), 115, refers to the following comment made by Le Corbusier to Lucien Harve (the photographer of most of his purist buildings) regarding La Cheminee: "If only you knew how I was overwhelmed in doing it in the memorv of the Parthenon. " 117 Furthermore, none of the footprints of any purist painting was ever pragmatically adapted as the De Stijl architects had done with Mondrian's elemental compositions. Contrary to Bosson's interpretation, neither do any ofLe Corbusier's geometric montages resemble any side views of his purist villas. 11 The plans ofhis buildings and their corresponding elevations read as beautiful graphic compositions in their own right, but none were any ever transformed into paintings. Guedes (1988: 23) rightly points out that the transmogrifications of Mondrian's abstractions were far more literal than anything ever attempted by Le Corbusier: "De Stijl was the movement in which painting and architecture came the closest to each other ... The dependence of Le Corbusier's seminal ideal villas, Ozenfant, La Roche-Jeanneret, Cook, Guiette, Cannile, Garches and Savoye on his own purist paintings is of another order; it is of a complex and poetic nature." The same argument applied to De Stijl can be extended to the Soviet avant-garde and their tectonic translations of Malevich's suprematist compositions, which were also far less arduous than Le Corbusier's approach. The ensuing distinctions not only emphasize, but also systematize and clarify this highly complex symbiotic relationship between Le Corbusier's purist art and architecture. 8.5 FORMAL PREOCCUPAnON In reviewing the formal component of Le Corbusier's purist architecture, the following hypotheses are presented: 1. It was primarily due to a preoccupation with form that purist doctrine materialized. 2. Le Corbusier's approach to form was derived from two independent points of departure - the one methodological, the other metaphysical. 3. It was only once the methodological and metaphysical premises had been synthesized through the medium of painting, that the transformation of his architecture occurred. 8.5.1 The Methodological Approach to Form Le Corbusier's methodological approach to form can be traced to his decorative arts training - a discipline conducive to stylization and abstraction. The role that L'Eplattenier played in this regard is of cardinal importance. As an ardent discipline of the theories of John Ruskin (1819-1900), L'Eplattenier considered nature as precedent for decorative design. However, L'Eplattenier did not tolerate a representational approach but advocated, instead, an analytical study of the organizational structure ofnatural fonn. In L 'Art Decoratifd'Aujourd'hui (1925; 1987: 194) Le Corbusier recalled: "My teacher had said: 'Only nature can give inspiration, can be true, can provide a basis for the work of mankind. But don't treat nature like the landscapists who only show its appearance. Study its causes, forms and vital development, and synthesize them in the creation of ornaments. " ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11 Von Moos, S., 1979, Le Corbusier, Elements of a Synthesis (Cambridge, Mass.: MlT Press), 284, refers to one instance where Le Corbusier "adopted the proportional lines of an earlier painting (1929-1931) for the fa<;ade of one of his skyscraper projects for Algiers". Von Moos claims that there are more examples, but he did not mention any. 8.12 Studies of plants and rock formations (1904). 8.14 Detail, Villa Fallet, La Chaux-de-Fonds 8.13 Designs derived from pine trees (1911). 8.15 Detail, Villa Fallet, La Chaux-de-Fonds 11 f"\f'\C'\ 118 L'Eplattenier's convictions were also derived from the dictum by Dwen Jones, outlined in the definitive compendium of decorative art at the time, The Grammar of Ornament (1856), that natural forms should always be stylized before being appropriated as ornament. In the words of Le Corbusier (1925; 1987: 133): "We had been told: Go and explore in the in the calm of the library the great compendium by Owen Jones ... This without question, was serious business. The pure ornaments which man had created entirely out of his head followed one another in sequence. Yes, but what we found there was overwhelmingly man as part of nature, and if nature was omnipresent, man was an integral part of it, with his faculties of crystallization and his geometric formation. " The decorative designs Le Corbusier did as a student (figs 8.12-8.13), together with the ornament applied to his earliest architectural commissions in La Chaux-de-Fonds (figs 8.14-8.15), show a preference for the geometric stylization of natural phenomena. Von Moos (1968; 1975: 14) attributes the deviation from the undulating shapes and forms, characteristic of then-prevailing Art Nouveau design idiom, entirely to the L'Eplattenier's teaching: "There is, however, a very significant difference between the naturalism of these architectural decorations and the naturalism in the works of the major contemporary architects of the lugendstil era. However much of the works of van de Velde in Belgium an Germany, Guimard in Paris, or Gaudi in Spain varied in style, they still had in common an organic representation of nature. Jeanneret, on the other hand, translated the inspiration of nature into a strict, geometric language. This was obviously a result ofL'Eplattenier's teaching." Paul Turner (1971; 1975: 19) suggests that exposure to the more "sober decorations" of the Germanic derivative ofArt Nouveau, Jugendstil, was another reinforcing influence. It is noteworthy that there is no correlation whatsoever between this methodological approach to form and any ofLe Corbusier's pre-purist buildings. This is particularly evident in his architecture excecuted between 1905 and 1908 where the formal appearance of his buildings were a synthesis of the Art and Crafts, lugendstil and Swiss vernacular traditions, and with the stylized decoration applied independently. It was only after his exposure to the Rationalism advocated by Perret and Loos's stance against the superfluousness of architectural decoration, that Le Corbusier's architecture became less ornamental as other design priorities and social considerations intensified. 8.5.2 The Metaphysical Approach to Form Turner (ibid.: 20) suggests that L'Eplattenier's InSIstence on a methodological approach to form alluded also to an underlying metaphysical attitude that was derived from the Platonic notion of an idealized formalism: "On the one level, [the conception of ornament as a microcosm] can be seen as a call for understanding the organic structure of natural forms, and this is surely part of what L'Eplattenier meant. But in light of leanneret's reading at this time (some of which L'Eplattenier suggested to him), we shall see that there was probably a deeper meaning as well - a Platonic conviction that one must penetrate beneath the superficial appearance of nature and seek out the ideal, universal reality. Each form thus idealized by the artist would become a 'microcosmos' of the divine Idea. " 119 Research conducted by Turner for the essay, "The Beginnings ofLe Corbusier's Education, 1902-07" and subtitled "Jeanneret's Early Reading" (1971; 1975: 21-25), indicates that Le Corbusier's interest in metaphysical values was derived from specific literary sources, recommended to him by L'Eplattenier as early as 1904. Two books in particular, L'Art de Demain (1904) by Henry Provensal and Les Grands Inities (1889) by Edouard Schure, are said to have lain the philosophical foundation for Le Corbusier's due metaphysical approach to form and essentially idealistic convictions that informed his architecture throughout his life. The philosophical content of both books was an extension of a Germanic-inspired idealism. According to Turner (1971; 1975: 22), L'Art de Demain, devoted to art theory and general philosophical issues, "may well have been the first such book Jeanneret read, and in any case he seems to have been greatly impressed by its ideas, some of which reappear almost unchanged in the architectural theory of Le Corbusier". Les Grands Inities lists the eight so-called great initiates who appear throughout history in different guises and always bear the same esoteric truths. Both books deal with the spiritual revival of modem civilization and the rejection of materialism. Provensal differs from Schure in his attitude toward material reality, granting matter and spirit equal validity, and envisaging a new form of art that unites both. Schure, in turn, views matter strictly in Platonic terms and, therefore, considered matter inferior to spirit. Art, according to such a definition, should be an expression of those spiritual, idealized forces. Of all the initiates listed by Schure, including Plato and major religious figures, Pythagoras was considered the most relevant to modem man as his esprit sCientifique resembled l'esprit moderne most closely. In this context, the word "scientific" does not refer to empirical activity but to abstract, a priori thought as encapsulated in Pythagoras' mystical numerology, anticipating the Modulor. According to Turner (ibid.: 23), Le Corbusier was particularly interested in this chapter, as evidenced by numerous personal annotations therein. During his study tours, Le Corbusier's visits to the monuments of Graeco-Roman antiquity stimulated his ubiquitous appreciation for classical architecture. It also intensified his awareness of an idealized formalism that coincided with Pythagorean and Platonic thought. It is not surprising that, upon his return to La Chaux-de-Fonds, his projects were executed in a tempered classical idiom. These designs displayed an increasing use of purer geometries, the gradual simplification of both footprint and silhouette, and were strictly symmetrically organized. It is noteworthy that the introduction of traces regulateurs to his architecture followed immediately after his journeys in 1911. Its application first emerged in the design of Villa Jeanneret-Perret, La Chaux-de-Fonds (1912), where it determined the disposition of the fenestration on the fayades according to the ratios of the Golden Section. Le Corbusier continued this practice from this point onwards. On the authority ofBaker (1996: 196), Le Corbusier made the following statement: "I built my own house when I was seventeen; it was covered with decorations. I was twenty-four when I built my second [fourth] house; I had travelled in the meantime. The plans of this house were lying on my drafting board. The year was 1911. I was suddenly struck by the arbitrary placing of the openings on the fayade (the windows). I blacked them with a piece of charcoal; the black spots now spoke some kind of a langUage, it was an incoherent language. Again I was struck at the absence of a rule or law. Appalled, I realized that I was working in utter chaos. And then I discovered, for my own purposes, the need for a regulating device. This obsession would henceforth occupy a corner ofmy mind. " Gans (1987: 108) maintains that the abandonment of his eclectic Swiss regionalism was also due to Le Corbusier's familiarity with the book Les Entretiens de la Villa du Rouet (1908) by Alexandre Cingria-Vaneyre, who claimed that the Franch-speaking Swiss (the Suisse-Romande) should have an architecture reflecting classical rather than Germanic values: 120 "[Cingria-Vaneyre's nationalistic] argument for buildings of pure, geometric shapes agreed with Le Corbusier's early lessons concerning the spiritual essence ofPlatonic solids ... " 8.5.3 The Cubist Approach to Form Bearing in mind Le Corbusier's familiarity with a methodological approach to form, it is not difficult to recognize why he would have felt a kinship with Cezanne - the first artist to introduce the process of stylization to the fine arts arena, transcribing his subject matter as geometric configurations. As Le Corbusier wrote in New World ofSpace (1948a: 150): "Spheres, cones and cylinders: Cezanne announced it. With these fundamental means and these limited themes, and in a colour which makes everything come alive, the emotion can leap from the canvas." Cezanne's so-called constructions after nature, as subsequently furthered by the Cubists, must have been instinctively comprehensible to Le Corbusier when he first encountered them - appealing to both his artistic and architectural sensibilities. This resulted, firstly, from the similarity of the process of abstraction - introduced to fine arts, in addition to the decorative arts. Secondly, the translation of natural phenomena into geometric entities endorsed the architectural premise that geometry underlies the structure of all built format as demonstrated, also, in nature. Yet, there is no evidence to suggest that either Cezanne, Picasso or Braque attached any mystical properties to their decodified forms and shapes. The geometric forms that Cezanne introduced with his paintings followed from his intent observations of nature, serving solely as a pictorial record of the organizational structure ofhis subject matter. Cezanne even stated: "The artist must scorn all judgement that is not based on an intelligent observation of character. He must be aware of the literary spirit which so often causes painting to deviate from its true path - the concrete study of nature - to lose itself all too long in intangible speculations". 12 Picasso's intrigue with Cezanne's modus operandi was derived from an optical point of view and, specifically, how the latter artist had succeeded in creating an illusion of depth without relying on conventional procedures. This initial fascination, culminating in Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, was surpassed by the inexhaustible creative possibilities inherent in Cezanne's methodological (or reductive) approach to form. However, the decoded information was merely regarded by Picasso and Braque as the means to an artistic end. Consequently, their subject matter was considered subordinate to the creative process of abstraction, serving as the vehicle with which to conduct these novel pictorial investigations. The semiotic content of the object, including its imaginary reconstruction by the viewer, remained their principal conceptual preoccupation and intellectual point of departure. This is substantiated by the fact that even during the most visually obscure phases of Cubism, Picasso and Braque never relinquished their ties with the visible world. In fact, they were at pains to retain some link with reality - be it through collage or typology. Ozenfant's early comment of 1916 that the worth of the Cubists does not lie in the absence of the depicted but in the beauty of the composition (Bosson, 1995b: 25), already anticipated the Purists' different approach to form and conceptual intent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12 Excerpt from a letter Cezanne wrote to Emile Bernard, dated 12 May 1904; reprinted in Chipp, H. (ed.), 1968, Theories ofModem Art (Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press), 19. 121 8.5.4 The Purist Approach to Form Following this train of thought, it becomes blatantly obvious why, from a methodological point of view, Le Corbusier, as decorative artist, could relate so comfortably to Cubism; but why, from a metaphysical premise, he, together with Ozenfant, was so critical of the Cubism practised by Picasso and Braque; and why they instead preferred the cubist interpretations and structured compositions of Leger and Oris. The methodological approach to form, as demonstrated in fine arts, found precedent in purist painting through the increasing stylization of the subject matter during its rudimentary stage. This was furthered during the volumetric and, specifically, the last stage of Purism, when the subject matter was fragmented and the compositions were graphically reconstructed. Since neither the esoteric assumptions ascribed to certain geometric forms, nor the underlying compositional structuring of their paintings, were considered of any particular consequence to Picasso and Braque, the Purists retorted accordingly. Their metaphysical approach to form was reflected in their choise of subject matter that demonstrated Euclidian geometry in their compilation. It also manifested in the organizing of the decoded (abstracted) forms according to metaphysically-inspired, numerological conventions. Lastly, their metaphysical functionalist premises were evidenced by their selection of utilitarian artefacts, qualified as objets-types. In summary: 1. The pre-purist period ofLe Corbusier's career, his decorative arts education, in particular, exposed him to a methodological approach to form that consisted of the abstraction of natural phenomena and their translation into geometric configurations, though exclusively intended for decorative purposes. 2. The literary sources consulted by Le Corbusier suggest that he was aware from a very e ly age of a metaphysical approach to form - an attitude that coincides with the classical notion that certain geometric forms are imbued with esoteric properties, which, supposedly, put Man, through their application, in touch with the harmony prevailing in nature. This conviction found expression in Le Corbusier's pre-purist architecture through a tentative use of purer geometries and the application of regulating lines, which, according to Serenyi (1975: 7), "[follows] the Platonic belief that geometry underlies the structure of the universe, the architect uses regulating lines forming various geometrical shapes to establish a harmonious link between his works and the universe" . 3. Turner (1971; 1975: 24) maintains that despite exposure to Perret's rational approach to form, Le Corbusier was never deterred from these, essentially, idealistic convictions, which ultimately found recondite expression in purist aesthetic theory. Even the Dom-ino structure, epitomiZing rational design decision-making, encompassed a distinct metaphysical component due to the modification of its dimensions in accordance with 'ideal' proportions. According to Turner (ibid.): "From his 'Dom-Ino' system of 1914, and his 'Purist' forms and utopian urbanism of the 1920s, to his sculptural architecture and obsession with the 'Modulor' in his later years, Le Corbusier's work was to be characterized most essentially by a search for generalization, universality, and absolute formal truths which put Man in touch with a harmony underlying nature ... " Ground floor plan Exterior First floor plan Interior 8.16 Pavilion l'Esprit Nouveau, Paris (1925). 122 4. It was, however, through the medium of painting that these two independent approaches to form were synthesized. This manifested, firstly, in the manner in which the methodological process of abstraction had been applied to the subject matter and, secondly, how this abstracted information had been reconstructed according to esoteric numerological conventions - an autonomous design method that Le Corbusier had already pursued in his architecture. 5. It it was as a result of the synthesis between the methodological and metaphysical that the symbiosis between Le Corbusier's paintings and architecture finally occurred; that a methodologically-derived plastic repertoire, a metaphysically-inspired design methodology, and an intellectual doctrine evolved that were applicable to both fine arts and architecture. 6. Lastly, it was as a result of a preoccupation with form that Purist dogma materialized. It was Le Corbusier's inherent attitude to form that provided the conceptual impetus that certain type objects are, or should be, constructed in response to the laws of the universe, economy and selection. This is substantiated by the fact that the metaphysically-inspired, functional postulates and biomorphic analogues ofPurism were deduced from the physical manifestation of (natural) form. Tiege (1929; 1975: 41, 42) was undoubtably one of the first architectural cntlcs who fully comprehended Le Corbusier's aesthetic intentions when he warned against "the danger of a utilitarian architecture with an artistic superstructure", adding that, "all this reveals the architect's work to be based on a priori aesthetic speculations rather than an analysis of actual conditions". 8.6 CONCEPTUAL RECONCll.IATION The conceptual reconciliation between Le Corbusier's paintings and his architecture is demonstrated best in the exhibition pavilion for the "Exposition Intemationale des Arts Decoratifs", hosted in Paris in 1925 (jig. 8.16). Pavillon l'Esprit Nouveau synthesized all the diverse ideas explored during those innovative years of theoretical inquiry. In the first volume of his Oeuvre Complete, Le Corbusier (1929; 1964: 104) stated his objectives as follows: "My intention was to illustrate how, by virtue of the selective principle (standardization applied to mass-production), industry creates pure forms; and to stress the intrinsic value of this pure form of art that is the result of it. Secondly, to show the radical transformation and structural liberties reinforced concrete and steel allow us to envisage in urban housing - in other words that a dwelling can be standardized to meet the needs of men whose lives are standardized. And thirdly, to demonstrate that these comfortable and elegant units of habitation, these practical machines for living in, could be agglomerated in long, lofty blocks ofvilla-flats. " The formal appearance, the spatial organization and the planning of the pavilion was an extension of the Citrohan dwelling prototype, made possible as a result of the Dom-ino structural system. The building was also a full-scale residential component of the Immeuble-Villas project that explored the concept of collective, high-rise dwelling. Dioramas of Dne Ville Contemporaine and Plan Voisin, exhibited in the attached rotunda, illustrated the high density, urban environment to which these Immeuble-Villas belonged. 123 The pavilion and its contents served as a commentary on the prospects of the industrial culture, induced by the Machine Age. This anticipation extended from a macro scale - the futurist city designed for "speed and success" - to a micro scale - utilitarian artefacts qualified as "equipment for living". The carefully selected objets-types - laboratory flasks used as vases, Thonet chairs, and so forth - also acted as the subject matter of the purist paintings by Le Corbusier and Ozenfant that adorned the walls. As Le Corbusier comments in the preface to L'Art Decoratif d'Aujourd'hui (1925; 1987: xiv): "We had undertaken to put a pavilion ofL 'Esprit Nouveau which would indissolubly link the equipment of the home (furniture) to architecture (the space inhabited, the dwelling), and to town-planning (the conditions of life of a society)." The same argument that was applied to the choise of the subject matter of purist painting was extended to purist architecture. Since the objet-type is a utilitarian artefact whose form evolved over time in response to its particular function, a state of perfection was reached due to this harmonious relationship between function and form (as exemplified by nature). Dom-ino - and the resultant habitable artefact - mimicked this conceptual premise in that its premeditated formal appearance was a direct response to its structural function, achieving the aspired sense of utilitarian harmony. Moreover, the title "Citrohan" was a play on the patent name of the Citroen automobile, indicating that a house its building components and mode of assembly - could likewise be standardized and systematized. Consequently, both Citrohan and Dom-ino qualified as objets-types as their formal appearance had been determined and perfected by utilitarian considerations, structural requirements and processes of industrialization. SinGe the Citrohan dwelling unit was considered a machine for living, Dom-ino could be regarded as a structural apparatus. Paraphrased in the words ofFrampton (1980: 152-153): "[Le Corbusier] wished to see the Dom-ino as a piece of equipment, analogous in its form and mode of assembly to a typical piece of product design. Such elements were seen by Le Corbusier as objets-types, whose forms had already become refined in response to typical needs." The alleged harmony that existed between function and form was apparent also in the equilibrium that prevailed between the respective components and the whole. Not only were the format of purist paintings and the distribution of their painterly content determined by the exact same system of proportion, but so, too, the column intervals and all corresponding dimensions of Dom-ino and the resultant pavilion. This preoccupation was even extended to the footprint of the master plan of the futurist city. Thus, the same mathematical conventions employed to govern the pictorial organization of the painterly composition determined the compositional realization of the building, including its macro environment. PavilIon l'Esprit Nouveau is a vivid demonstration of Le Corbusier's holistic approach to the design-related environment, encapsulating the notion of total design. The reference to Purism as a cultural aesthetic serves as the most appropriate description of this building in its conceptual totality, encompassing the new spirit of the industrial age from which its name was derived. Lastly, the conceptual premises which Le Corbusier ascribed to man-made artefacts endorse his biomorphic analogies since he considered the industrial era the modem incarnation of nature. 8.17 Le Bof Rouge (1905). 8.18 Maison Citrohan, variation, project (1922). 8.21 Nature Morte au Violin Rouge (1920). First floor plan ~~---~···~-······--·:1 "'~ " ""''.../'' /' .,/' \""" ...... ./ "" Second floor plan " "' .···.R \ ,,\ .,/' \ '¥ \ Elevations I I 8.20 Nature Morte afa Pile d'Assiettes (1920). 8.21 Atelier Ozenfant, Paris (1923). 124 8.7 PLASTIC REPERTOIRE In the interview conducted with Bosson (1995a: 13) in 1962, Le Corbusier commented as follows: "Since 1918, I've painted practically every day. It is through painting that I've found the forms for my architecture: already from the beginning, I felt how it was to grow from my still-lifes. " Despite Le Corbusier's aforegoing statement, the connection between specific examples of his paintings and purist dwellings remains theoretical. Notwithstanding, the formal simplicity of his Maisons Citrohan (1920, 1921) do recall the paintings of 1918 and 1919 that were produced during the rudimentary stage ofPurism (jigs 8.17-8.18)....:. an opinion shared with Baker (1996: 264): "[Le Corbusier always] tended towards complexity, yet interestingly he usually began by using a simple theme, gradually building up the elaboration. La Cheminee, Le Bol blanc and Le Bol rouge are in this vein, and in his architecture around this time he began with the simple ideas of the Citrohan and Monol prototypes, gradually extending their range. " To Guedes (1988: 23), Atelier Ozenfant is considered the most vivid realization of purist painting: "It is the most pure of all the architectural equivalents of their purist paintings. The house is also a shallow box containing various levels, volumes and simple geometric elements within the frame of its boundary walls. The whole composition converges on the 'cube of light' of the studio which is the architectural equivalent of the cube in 'Le bol rouge' of 1919. The two spiral stairs, one internal, one external, are like the upright cylindrical bottles in the paintings. " Gans (1987: 62), too, refers to the correlation between Villa Savoye and purist still-lifes: "The particular curves and slants that once filled tl1e interior and which can still be seen in the roof, manifest the same sensibility as the curvaceous bottles ofLe Corbusier's still lifes ... " Banham (1960b; 1975: 62) shares similar sentiments, judging from his essay "Conclusion: Functionalism and Technology": "[Savoye] raises painterly echoes ... not only are these curves, on plan, like the shapes to be found in his peintures puristes, but their modelling, seen in raking sunlight, has the same delicate and insubstantial air as that of the bottles and glasses in his paintings and the effect of theses curved forms, standing on a square slab raised on legs, is nothing so much as a still-life arranged on a table. " There is no doubt that the range of primary forms that dominate in Le Corbusier's purist architecture, as well as in modern architecture in general, serves as the most literal manifestation of Cubism, due to Cezanne's example. In Age ofthe Masters (1962; 1975: 34), Banham concurs: "From Cubism's wandering emphasis on the regular geometrical solids (canonised by Cezanne as the cylinder, sphere and cone and thus belonging to a tradition that goes back to Plato) come a group of forms, mostly cubic and rectangular, but including also cylinders and half-cylinders (handy for staircases). These forms were realised, where humanly possible, in absolute Platonic purity; cornices, cappings, sills, dripstones were rigourously suppressed, even First floor plan Second floor plan Axonometric 8.22 Maisons La Roche-Jeanneret, Paris (1923). 8.23 Nature Morte aux Nombreux Objets (1923). 8.24 Bouteille et Livre (1926). 125 the facts of the structure were plastered over and rendered smooth to give a homogeneous surface and preserve the uninterrupted purity of the form. " In the first volume of his Oeuvre Complete (1929; 1964: 104), Le Corbusier even referred to Maison Cook, Paris (1927,fig. 8.25), as la vriae maison cubique (the true cubic house) since both its plan and elevations were derived from the same square. In Vers une Architecture (1923; 1987: 2, 29), he ceaselessly reiterated the beauty inherent in the cubist formal range, stating that "Primary forms are beautiful because they can be clearly appreciated", adding, "their image is distinct and tangible within us and without ambiguity" . Yet, Le Corbusier did compromise the purity of form when it did not conform to the geometry of the site, as happened in the case ofAtelier OzenJant where he exploited its angular implications. Regardless of the significance Le Corbusier ascribed to pure form, his plastic repertoire was by no means restricted to their exclusive application. The curvilinear shapes and forms that first appeared in his architecture with the design of Atelier Ozenfant in 1923, coincided with the sculptural quality of the axonometric projections investigated during the volumetric stage ofPurism - most notably Nature Morte au Violon Rouge and Nature Morte a la Pile d'Assiettes of 1920 (figs 8.19-8.21). Although primary forms dominated in establishing the confines of the building envelopes, the sensuous internal partitions, animated exteriors and evocative roof-scapes epitomized in Maisons La Roche-Jeanneret, Paris (1923), Maison Cook, Villa Stein-de Monzie, Garches (1927), and Villa Savoye were in all probability also derived from the fragmented subject matter of paintings, such as Nature Morte aux Nombreaux Objets and Bouteille et Livre (figs 8. 22-8. 24). However, Le Corbusier not only derived a novel range of formal geometries from his painterly abstractions, it also heightened his awareness of the pictorial ambiguities that could bear effect on architectural expression. The aesthetic potential inherent in the contrasting effects of solid versus void, volume versus plane, opacity versus transparency, positive versus negative, light versus shadow, rigid versus animated, regular versus irregular, and so forth, enabled Le Corbusier to extend his plastic repertoire way beyond the formal. The architectural implications of these pictorial sensations were exploited and intentionally manipulated to great emotional effect - endorsing his much-quoted statement from Vers une Architecture (1923; 1987: 29) that "Architecture is the mastery, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light". His later purist villas, particularly, Villa Baizeau, Carthage (1929), and Villas Stein-de-Monzie and Savoye, demonstrate his deliberation over the impact of these animated volumes and the intensification of the spatial drama as a result thereof; theatrically contrasted against the rigidity of the Euclidean geometry of the building envelope (figs 8.26-8.28). Close examination of these villas reveals that the plastic potential of his design repertoire were, more often than not, pursued towards their own ends, resulting in contrived planning and the sacrificing of other practical design considerations. These views are corroborated in the comments by another of Le Corbusier's most ardent critics at the time, Walter Behrendt (1937; 1975: 44): "In each of his manifestoes, Le Corbusier explains modem building as a problem of functional structure. But to draw conclusions from his practical achievements, he himself seems to be interested not so much in building as a structural problem as in Architecture, which according to his own definition, is supposed to be a 'thing of art, a phenomel.1on of poetic emotion' ... Le Corbusier ... the Picasso of modem architecture, deals not with the structural problem of building, but with the aesthetic problem of an architectural style." ill = Wh , Ht'- :JP' • • Ground floor plan I I I I I [[IT]]] B [ITITICIITJ] [illJ]]]]]rn~ I 'L.., First floor plan 8.25 Maison Cook, Paris (1927). 126 Contrary to his functionalist rhetoric, Le Corbusier stated emphatically in Vers une Architecture (1923;1987: 217-218) that architecture extends beyond utilitarian requirements: "The plan of the house, its cubic mass and its surface have been dictated partly by the utilitarian demands of the problem, and partly by imagination, i. e., plastic creation." The supposed house-machine is beautiful also due to "the animation that the artist's sensibility can addto severe and pure functional elements" (ibid.: 7). He added, "So much the worse for those that lackimagination." (ibid.: 16) He also differentiated between timeless architectural expression and mere engmeenng: "You employ stone, wood and concrete, and with these materials you build houses andpalaces; that is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good, I am happy and I say: 'This is beautifu1.' That is Architecture. Art enters in." (ibid.:203) The aesthetic confidence exuded by his purist villas stemmed undoubtably from the plasticphenomonology that he derived from his painterly pursuits, permitting him to state: "Profile and contour are the touchstone of the Architect. Here he reveals himself a artist or mere engineer ... Profile and contour are a pure creation of the mind; they call for the plastic artist." (ibid.: 201) It was ultimately as a result of Le Corbusier's painterly pursuits that he was able to derive a novelformal repertoire that extended way beyond the literal range of cubist geometry. It was as plastic artistthat Le Corbusier distinguished himself from his immediate peers; that he became both the mostinfluential and controversial architect of the 20th century, making his architectural contribution unique amongst the protagonists of the Modem Movement. These views fond corroboration in Baker's words(1996: 254) that "the basis of [Le Corbusier's] art was painterly rather than constructional, his source was art ... not technology ... " [Emphasis added by author.] 8.8 COMPOSmONAL CORRELATION 8.8.1 The Regulated Composition The correspondence between Le Corbusier's painterly and architectural compositions serves as the most literal connection ofhis approach to these two autonomous disciplines. It was as a result of the significance ascribed to order, harmony and proportion - indicative of classical architecture and considered in the design of his own buildings since 1911 - that Le Corbusier was ableto identify, and counter, the deficiencies of Cubism. The identical algebraic formulae that had initiallydetermined the format and position of the openings on his fayades of his buildings governed also the structure of hls paintings. These numerological laws - qualified as regulating lines - remained the consistent means with which he organized both the artistic and the architectural compositions (jigs8.29-8.30). The importance that Le Corbusier attached to the attainment of visual equilibrium finds support inVers une Architecture where he dedicated an entire chapter, entitled "Traces Regulateurs", to the subject and repeatedly called on the necessity for order. By his own admission, it was this obsessionthat led to the formulation ofhis own system of proportion, the Modulor, in 1942. It was also his also D Ground floor plan Second floor plan First floor plan ''''I ~-L~w~ r= .r II III r'--' .. r'"~~ aI 0 , '" ~r==- --, ~ ,.-----, Third floor plan 2 2 '1 8.26 Villa Stein-de Monzie, Garches (1927). 127 his commitment to the regulated composition that infuriated his critics. Behrendt (1937; 1975: 45), for example, maintained that the regurgitation of "the old and approved expedient of academicism" undermined the conceptual premise of modem architecture, which, in his opinion, had been identified as a pragmatically-determined Functionalism (versus the metaphysically-inspired). In the words of Behrendt (ibid.: 45): "[Le Corbusier's] work, infused with the spirit of Geometry as the source of its order, certainly affords us the 'sublime satisfactions of Mathematics which gives us such grateful perception of order.' And demonstrating in his achievements this spirit of order, he may convince us as artist, but he cannot convert us to the belief that it is just the spirit of Geometry which determines our modem mode of thinking and affords the universal law under which our time is striving for a new order. " 8.8.2 Dom-Ino as Ordering Device In view of Le Corbusier's preoccupation with the regulated organization of composition, Dom-ino remains his most compelling invention, particularly when considering that it was conceived of four years before the genesis of Purism and thus arrived at independently of any artistic influences. However, in his correspondence with Du Bois (Lowman, 1976: 231), Le Corbusier had already exclaimed as early as 1915 that "Order, rhythm and unity reign in our invention. These are qualities that would take others a mighty long time to find". Despite this statement, it is submitted that at the time of its conception, Dom-ino was intended to act, predominantly, as a structural device with a specific social agenda in mind. The first demonstration of the application of Dom-ino - the hypothetical housing complex, entitled Maisons Dom-Ino (1915) - serves as a case in point. This project was both a pragmatic response and economical solution to the anticipated post-war housing shortage. With the design of Villa Schwob, the first built example of its application, Dom-ino was regarded solely as the technological means that enabled the architect to combine the load-bearing structure with non-supporting, infill walls. The first universal dwelling prototype, Maison Monol, developed together with Du Bois in 1919, was an extension of previous concerns, with Dom-ino acting as an enabling mechanism for structural, technological and social purposes. The second dwelling prototype, Maison Citrohan, developed one year later, represented a radical architectural metamorphosis, addressing a much wider range of design considerations and anticipating the official codification of the "5 Points d'une Architecture Nouvelle" in 1925/6. It is significant, although not surprising, that Maison Citrohan was selected as the typological model of the purist villas excecuted during the 1920s and not Maison MonoI. It is proposed that it was as a result of his painterly investigations that the latent implications of Dom-ino were finally recognized, argued as follows: 1. The reverence for order enabled the Purists to develop an alternative theoretical argument and corresponding design strategy to counter the lack of order in cubist painting. 2. At the time that the Purists "called for order" (rappel a l'ordre) in the painterly composition Le Corbusier had already, and independently, discovered the tectonic means with which - in addition to regulating lines - order could be attained in the architectural composition. 3. The purported compositional deficiencies of Cubism reaffirmed the necessity for order, and called attention to the correspondence between the artistic and architectural composition. • • • Ground floor plan Second floor plan I-..--1='t= - I I I I I I- I I I I l= • • • • First floor plan I t6 [n I QO [ L o 0 ~ ~ [ - i i I ~ ~ I I I I I I ,-- '-- 8.27 Villa Baizeau, Cathage (1929). 128 The organizational - or structural - discipline sought in cubist composItion, and consequently demonstrated in the countering purist compositions, coincided with the regulated system of order that the Dom-ino structure imposes on the architectural composition. It was only once the symbiotic relationship between the artistic and architectural composition was established, that the actual mental connection was made that Dom-ino serves as an ordering device (in addition to being a structural system). Admittedly, Le Corbusier had earlier exclaimed that order reigned in their invention, but he did not, until after the genesis of Purism, comprehend and internalize the implications of his own statement. Dom-ino certainly regulates the distribution of the structural load dictated by pragmatic requirement, but it determines and controls also the visual organization of the building - both in footprint and in silhouette. It was only once Dom-ino was recognized as a compositional mechanism a "rule structure" according to Plattus (1987: 17) - that the subliminal conceptual, plastic and spatial potential on offer, finally dawned on Le Corbusier. In the words ofPlattus (ibid): "He then proceeded, over the following decade, to extrapolate from the hypothesis of the Dom-ino not only a set of house types that challenged as they transformed the received domestic repertoire, but also and even more importantly, he formulated the basic rule structure of an architectural language predicated upon both modem construction and the revolutionary experiments of cubist paintings. " Since the Purists maintained that cubist paintings were unsubstantiated by any rational means of compositional organization, their artistic pursuit was entirely dominated by the quest for order. It is ironic, but highly significant, that by restraining the creative freedom generated by the spatial and pictorial innovations of Cubism Le Corbusier could finally indulge in the advantages of his own structural invention. Paraphrased: once the rational organization of the architectural composition had been recognized as a result of the countering purist paintings, the creative possibilities engendered by Dom-ino could ultimately be taken advantage of Dom-ino induced, foremost, a structural freedom that liberated both interior and exterior from previous load-bearing constraints. This liberation, combined with the inherent characteristics of reinforced concrete, found due expression in the piloti, plan fibre, ja9ades fibre, jenetres en longeur, and jardin suspendu - the distinguishing features of a new, modem architecture. The skeletal structure, moreover, enabled a novel aspectival expression of space that could be contained, extended, intensified, manipulated and modulated at will. Finally, Dom-ino permitted endless architectural variety, which, combined with the plastic phenomenology derived from painterly experimentation, could be explored to the creative heart's content. Thus, Dom-ino can be regarded conclusively as an ordering device. As a regulating system, Dom-ino fulfils the same function as regulating lines since it controls the distribution of the respective architectural entities, which, in this instance, happen to be structural components. Just as the regulating lines served as the agent for the algebraic formulae corresponding to the ratios of the Golden Section, so does Dom-mo with all its interrelated dimensions - the column intervals, floor to ceiling height, and column and slab thicknesses 13 - adjusted according to mathematical conventions. An analogy between Dom-mo and the Parthenon - "a product of selection based on a standard" , "animated by a unity of mathematical intention" (Le Corbusier, 1923; 1987: 131, 213) - or equating Dom-ino, as ordering device, with the Greek Orders, is not as farfetched as Le Corbusier would have. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13 It is mere speculation that the initial dimensions of the columns and floor slabs corresponded to the algebraic figures of the Golden Section. However, it is a fact that with the advent of the Modulor, all dimensions were modified accordingly. See Collins, P., 1954, "Modulor", reprinted in Serenyi (ed.), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective: 79-83, for an account of the difficulties these obscure dimensions caused contractors and engineers. Ground floor plan o D Second floor plan First floor plan 8.28 Villa Savoye, Poissy (1931). 129 8.8.3 The Generating Surface As the primary compositional determinant, Dom-ino manifested as the "geometric substructure" - as referred to by Colin Rowe (1947; 1975: 53) - of a prospective building which had been predetermined by load-bearing efficiencies. As a result, a regulated system of (structural) order had, in advance, been imposed on the respective floor plans - the figure-ground - and its corresponding fayades - the 'elevational' surfaces. Following this train of thought, it is not too outrageous to equate the confines of the imposed footprint and silhouette ofDom-ino with the painterly canvas, inviting the distribution of the architectural subject matter. Its demarcation was partly determined by utilitarian considerations programme, ergonomics, circulation, and so forth - and partly by so-called plastic creation, though in all instances verified by the traces regulateurs - "the means of verification which can ratify all work created in a fervour" (Le Corbusier, 1923; 1987: 75), though, now the secondary means of compositional regulation. These assumptions find corroboration in Le Corbusier's own words in Vers une Architecture (ibid.: 217-218): "The plan of the house, its cubic mass and its surface have been dictated partly by the utilitarian demands of the problem, and partly by imagination, i. e., plastic creation. Here at once, in regard to the plan and consequently in regard to whatever is erected in space, the architect has worked plastically; he has restrained utilitarian demands in deference to the plastic aim he was pursuing; he has made a composition [sic]." Naegele (1995: 115, footnote 33) draws attention to the consideration Le Corbusier gave to the format of the canvas, supporting the suggested analogy between the Dom-ino cartouche and the painterly surface: "The proportions of the canvas itself played a critical role in Purist painting, for it generated the regulating lines which governed the placement of each element pictured, establishing the desired 'resonance' of the part to the whole. So precisely calculated was this that Le Corbusier found it necessary to devise a special picture frame for his paintings since a typical picture frame - which covered an inch or more of the canvas periphery - defused the picture by altering its proportions. " It is not surprising that Le Corbusier would identify mass, surface and plan - in that sequence - as the so-called three reminders to architects in the introductory pages of Vers une Architecture. Mass, surface and plan, together with the regulating line, not only encompassed Le Corbusier's design methodology but also reinforced the correlation between the artistic and architectural compositions. Le Corbusier (1923; 1987: 75) stated that it is the task of the architect, as plastic artist, to "vitalize the surface". For Le Corbusier (ibid.: 35), surface was the envelope of mass. Consequently, the distinction between plan and elevation is irrelevant since both qualify as compositional surfaces, and the identical design strategy is applicable to the manner of distributing the architectural content. This view is substantiated by Rowe's lesser known essay "The Provocative Fayade" (1987), which was derived from Le Corbusier's ambiguous statement in Vers une Architecture (ibid.: 168) that "the floor is really a horizontal wall". The following quotation served as the premise for Rowe's theory: "If walls become floors, then sections become plans; and as the building becomes a die to be thrown on the table, then all the rest results. We throw around the die: and, as fayade becomes side elevation, as Dom-Ino becomes Citrohan, a continuous twisting of meaning and presentation is obliQed to OCClIr "(roll 1QQ';. 1 n 8.29 La Bouteille de Vin Orange (1922). Plan 8.31 Mass-Produced Artisan's Dwelling, project (1924). Elevation 8.30 Maisons La Roche-Jeanneret, Paris (1923) . ..-- ~ Section 8.32 Villa Ternisien, Baulogne-sur-Seine (1925). .,...,-~~\,,,,,v""''a-< . iP~ B SjJj\7!A1,. C()MJ)m~t.tON·J er Stl/tRA.t.: flw..ti·~:::i~~"1Il ...'7IOtl.i, thf: ..c8't "!l!IlIQD1. c:5~l'Ch, dltvc:Japlna .".U.nL thir:.Idnr. llnit fMiU4 ....HQ ~on>lltrvc:t1vt' ;tr-1Miph.. Tlte b.)i1Ilit; ;;:-:"> ~t'jnelpl.e. of c::o.n'4tructhhtlll "re frne()lk:i::tOCt.lc:e. a CCnlllLruuh'. jolnt.. Prcpor't.1.onol ,...lrttOft!:ffilp. 4nd rd.tl.~ ar..i;.1e-ii· df:t·~t"rI\ln. tb. ltUal1t:y l)f' Ov'el"a:U tOrtft"ru<:Uvt! .pat:U"J t:o:W'nM:J~M. Th. coYtriuuutiC¥l ;;t ttlCl C'O'1lp~nent FlllJ.nc-# J!l:t!y 1;10 If' to.Ho~tP ~ Po:tv&,~tJ1 r~cc;:·iJA.tU'ilr :flIJAAU, "In-'h offe'( tJ&ttful con.trt:.c:th. ~i.'n.t1one. ~ :lltlfthm.tft~t:" ('QnM C-Ifft b. u •.llldlll.";" e<>m;rl..rU'l;hv",!)I. D~t th...y n.va no int.Nlot .tfJ-e' Ul;. b"ln;: Yfry l"ardy ftIcountnCl4 1ft prlU:"tLce.13 6 CGMPl.U '*tm.. ~l~tfl' l'Om.(>.'~~ f1w-tn:-. 'otl th 4trr"t-li::nt eotOUJ"#Um•• !. A hi-C:Qlou.re..1 CO!tl;>oilltllttrl frQ~ a .It.t'~4t8 t)t el~r.:(;'~t~. l'lfXW rt.e.u~tt. STRA.!{;tt"l' l.tfolf,: rl;tUretl • BftCKfrt' 1.11(£5. C\lJIi'O'f.O l.J.tff:S . ? $"~E'tlnCA.t. GCKrOSntOH rR~ le $~ttS (IF MtCTANGL£S pl"'Qi!U~in.l'. IA:" l.lIl:prel!$.i:on l)~\lG: ... r.etl LtnClar fi-tl,frU c()#1UtAlng ri&!tt uns;!lti~ - l"oet.Ult\~;)t" t'l~lJ.ru ...1 th nq Tight 2UtghoB • curvl 1~.nf!fi%" t1~""'. ... n(.Ures of ~J:od ~t:l if'1\! rt~'.Ir" of ""lust Qut.hnft CM pemi t dch c.un.liI\l."\tr:.:Un cOO:"bin...tion&.10 C:l)nst.M.fOt:'vt coQ,n-lJ1,n,c\t!etn. ot P1.!-."i;;:S as A vuriE -Bre Uht: ~l:J-h6.l-d tJ~ 1l'IQ,ft)l pr-:toetleal tuka. 'The pn:-l.L~lti"ry- fSoluUon Ilf a btl1hU,ng plan requtk"t'& ~0l1~tI"OOtton5 or tl'lt-s o.rder. PltllHtr C'l.cut·u.• bt>lfl.£ d1·'r'tnle in Ulrlr crmt.i.guNIt:1on" l h:tvCl .~,t(lHy d:tvtr~e t'U1.~ .. tn dedgl1." £:..rd.~ -1 in.e]ud.: R~,=,t1l1tl.J!.u- t!onHiurul..l.07'l" tl.aYfl ~n ~l~i\t(t$t. jutel"et!t\. (or .In ••hu:,. tbl,l1 htsv(t th.t" ·..ldtt;trt I"'-$nt~ of praQt,t.cal upp1!c.• dMa. b.ut tM6. ~t tJ, ".C'u\.t- An4 Qbtu81e IUlll!!:."* t\1I"''' les::. potcnthl 1;:) .ftIlk" COlI.!}.t:r..iualizing mass-produced consumer items and popular symbols, Pop Artists succeeded in elevating their status to the realm of fine art. Pop Art exercised a considerable influence on post-modern architecture. Leading practitioners include Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1996), Claes Oldenburg (1929) and Jasper Jolms (1930). Rationalism Pertains to the l7th-century philosophical train of thought, predominantly ascribed to by Rene Descartes (1591-1650), Benedict de Spinoza (1632-77) and Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716). The Rationalists claimed that reason was the sole source of knowledge, and that knowledge of the universe could be acquired only through the application of systematic reasoning. From an architectural point of view, Rationalism pertains to a more logical design approach, derived from structural and utilitarian efficiencies instead of formal and aesthetic considerations. Rayonism (1913) Rayonism was one of the earliest modern art movements to emerge from Russia, initiated by Mikhail Larionov (1881-1964) in 1913. Although methodologically indebted to Cubism, Rayonism was closer aligned to the dynamic intentions of the Futurists, and the colour abstractions of Robert Delaunay (1885-1941). Larionov's initial landscape studies, which investigated the effect of sunlight, were soon surpassed by his abstract compositions consisting exclusively of rays of colour and light - hence the name. Other practitioners included Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962). Rococo (c.1715-1750) The term was presumably derived from the French word rocailleux which literally translates as "pebbly" or "rough". Rococo refers to the classical derivative that emerged in France and Germany during the 18th century. Rococo was characterized by excessive ornamentation, gilded finishes, pastel colours and curvilinear shapes and forms. Tt also exercised considerable influence on all the related arts, including furniture and fashion design, and even hair styles. The association with opulence and frivolity, coupled the popularity that the style enjoyed with the French royal family, contributed to the political dissent that culminated in the French Revolution of 1789. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Surrealism (1922-1938) An art movement closely associated witll Dada which also substantially influenced literature, the dramatic arts and cinematography during the 1920s and 1930s. The Surrealists aimed at a visible expression of the subconscious Witll explicit sexual and Freudian overtones, and even promoted the use of drugs and hypnosis. They also attempted to liberate all forms of creative expression from overt contemplation, and aesthetic and moral preoccupations - views promulgated by French poet Andre Breton (1896-1966) in the "Surrealist Manifesto" published in 1924. The Surrealists lacked artistic coherence as considerable emphasis was placed on the act of spontaneous creation. These intentions found expression in the improvisations of found objects and collages produced by former Dadaists Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) and Hans (Jean) Arp (188617-1966), Max Ernst (1891-1976), Joan Mir6 (1893-1983); the dream-like fantasies of Salvador Dali (1904-1989); and the bizarre juxtapositions of Rene Magritte (1898-1967). Even the art ofthe quintessential Cubist, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), displayed surrealist inclinations from 1925. The movement culminated in the "International Exhibition of Surrealism" hosted in Paris in 1938. Although the concentrated energy dissipated after the Second World War, Surrealism found further expression in later aesthetic initiatives, such as Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 208 Synchronism (1913) Refers to the pioneering American abstract art movement launched by Stantin MacDonald-Wright (1890-1973) and Morgan Russell (1886-1953) in October 1913. The name was chosen to denote the connection between music (symphony) and colour. Although the Synchronists claimed independence from Orphism, they were decisively influenced by the preceding colour abstractions of the Orphists Frantisek Kupka (1871-1957) and Robert Delaunay (1885-1941). The principal contribution of Synchronism was the introduction of abstract art to the USA. Theosophy A philosophica1-eum-spiritual movement founded by Helen ('Madame') Blavatsky (1831-q.v.) and one Henry Steel Olcott in 1875 in New York in reaction against the hedonism of the materialistic age. Theosophy was modelled on Eastern religious practices and encouraged meditation and introspection. It also emphasized the visual aspects of the spiritual, promoting so-called thought forms, and the mystical properties of colour and geometric configurations. Theosophy excercized a profound influence on the emergence of Neo-Plasticism, the abstract Expressionism practised by Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944), and Suprematism. . Trompe l'Oeil The French phrase for "deceiving the eye". Usually used with reference to a mural that exploits perspective and illusionary depth so that it appears entirely three-dimensional and tactile. Trompe l'oeil was used extensively during the Baroque and Rococo periods. Vorticism (1912-1915) Refers to the pioneering graphic art movement that materialized in England before the First World War. Vorticism was a synthesis of the geometric abstractions of Cubism and the dynamics explored by the Futurists. The movement was dominated by the personality of Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957), editor of its mouthpiece BLAST, of which only two editions appeared in 1914 and 1915. Other members included William Roberts, Edward Wadsworth, Frederick Etchells and David Bomberg . The Vorticists were also influenced by aerial photography and modern engineering. The aspect that sets Vorticism apart from other modern art movements was the unique treatment of form that accelerated towards a vortex - hence the name as coined by art critic, Ezra Pound. Mitchell, who directed his attention to architecture after the war, not only translated Vers une Architecture by Le Corbusier into English, but also designed the first modern office complex in London. Bomberg's compositions, in particular, anticipated the development of Op Art. Weissenhofsiedlung, Stuttgart (1925-1927) This international architectural exposition, hosted by the Deutsche Werkbund, provided a forum for renowned architects to expose the public to ideal modern living. The curator of the exhibition, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), selected the participants, which included Peter Behrens (1868-1940), WaIter Gropius (1883-1969), Jocobus Johannes Pieter Oud (1990-1963), Mart StaIn (1899-q.v.), Victor Bourgeois (q.v.), Bruno Taut (1880-1938), Hans Poelzig (1869-1936) and Charles-Eduard Jeanneret / Le Corbusier (1887-1965). The formal similarities of the collection of buildings prompted Alfred Barr Jr (1902-1981) to coin the term "International Style". It was also on this occasion that Le Corbusier started to make reference to his "5 Points d'une Architecture Nouvelle". Le Corbusier's contribution consisted of two different housing prototypes, though based on the same design principles - a free-standing, four-storied, single family house and a double-storied semi-detached unit accommodating two families of varying size. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER 2 209 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS THE CLASSICAL IDEAL OF BEAUTY 2.1 From Doczi, G., 1981, Power ofLimits - Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art and Architecture (Boulder, Colo.: Shambala), 10. 2.2 Ibid. (9). 2.3 Ibid. (11, 97). 2.4 Ibid. (108). 2.5 Ibid. (41). 2.6 Ibid.(40). 2.7 Unspecified reproduction. From Cameron and Spies (eds.), 1986, Nuwe Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika in Woord en Beeld (Cape Town: Human & Rousseau), 35. 2.8 Fresco (81 cm); British Museum, London. From Beckett, Sister W., 1994, The Story of Painting - The Essential Guide to the History ofWestern Art (London: Dorling), 13. 2.9 Marble (n. dim.); location unspecified. From Lloyd-Jones, H. (ed.), 1965, The Greek World (Bng.: Penguin), fig. 4. 2.10 From Doczi (1981: 104). 2.11 Fresco (n. dim.); Fratelli Fabbri, Milan. From Beckett (1994: 19). 2.12 Fresco (21 cm); Archeological Museum, Naples. Ibid.(21). 2.13 From Vitruvius, 1914 ed.; 1960, Ten Books on Architecture, trans. Etchell, F. (New York: Dover), 85, 91. 2.14 From Doczi (1981:112). 2.15 From Fletcher, Sir B., 1945, 12th ed., A History ofArchitecture on the Comparative Method, (London: Batsford), 556. 2.16 Ibid. (609). 2.17 Ibid. (628). 2.18 Ibid. (661). 2.19 Oil on canvas (314 x 205 cm); Uffizi, Florence. From Beckett (1994: 94-95). 2.20 Oil on canvas (772 cm); Stanze di Raffaello, Viticano. Ibid. (128). 2.21 Oil on canvas (77 x 53 cm); Louvre, Paris. Ibid. (117). 2.22 Fresco (detail); Sistine Chapel ceiling, St Peters, Rome. Ibid. (21). 2.23 Oil on canvas (207 x 210 cm); National Gallery, London. !bid. (160-161). 2.24 Unspecified reproduction. From Doczi (1981: 95). CHAPTER 3 THE COGNO-PERCEPTION OF SPACE 3.1 Mosaic (n. dim.); Museo Nazionale, Naples. From Beckett, Sister W., 1994, The Story of Painting - The Essential Guide to the History of Western Art (London: Dorling), 19. 3.2 Fresco (40 x 27 cm); Catacombe di Priscil1a, Rome, Italy. Ibid. (24). 3.3 Detail ofBayeaux tapestry; Bridgeman Art Library, Eng. Ibid. (33). 3.4 Unspecified reproduction. From Frayling and Van der Meer, 1992, The Art Pack: Three Dimensional Tour through the Creation ofArt (New York: Knopf), "Perspective", n. pag. 3.5 Oil on canvas (48 x 35 cm.); National Gallery ofArt, Washington DC. From Beckett (1994: 59). 3.6 Oil on canvas (30 x 39 cm); Ashmolean, Oxford. Ibid. (87). 3.7 Bronze (no dim.); location unspecified. Ibid. (83.) 3.8 Fresco (205 x 90 cm); Uffizi, Florence. Ibid. 3.9 Fresco (670 x 315 cm); location unspecified. Ibid.(85). 3.10 From Gavin Macrae-Gibson, 1985, The Secret Life ofBuildings: An American Anthology of Modern Architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Presst 41. 210 3.11 Unspecified reproduction. From Gavin Macrae-Gibson (1985: 42). 3.12 Engraving; part of the series "Optique de Portraiture et Peinture" (1670). From Varnedoe, K., 1990, A Fine Disregard - What Makes Modern Art Modern? (London: Thames & Hudson),37. 3.13 Unspecified reproduction. From Macrae-Gibson (1985: 42). 3.14 Engraving; "De Bibiena", 1711, Archittura Civile. Ibid. (44). 3.15 Engraving; British Architectural Library, London. Ibid. (45). CHAPTER 4 THE MECHANIZATION OF VISION 4.1 Oil on canvas (391 x 496 cm); Girandon, Paris. From Beckett, Sister W., 1994, The Story of Painting - The Essential Guide to the History of Western Art (London: Dorling), 261. 4.2 Oil on canvas (160 x 92 cm); Victoria and Alfred, London. Ibid. (278) 4.3 Oil on canvas (335 x 427 cm); Louvre, Paris. Ibid. (253). 4.4 Unspecified reproduction. From Copplestone, T., 1969, Architecture - The Great Art of Building (London: Deans), 80. 4.5 Ledoux, Architecture Consideree (n.d.). From Macrae-Gibson, G., 1985, The Secret Life of Buildings - An American Anthology ofModern Architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press),47. 4.6 From Copplestone (1969: 82). 4.7 Ibid. (80). 4.8 Oil on canvas (160 x 250 cm); Musee d'Orsay, Paris. From Anon, 1986, Paintings in the Musee d'Orsay (paris: Scala), 46. 4.9 Oil on canvas (130 x 150 cm); Musee Fabre, Montpe1lier. From Beckett (1994: 283). 4.10 Oil on canvas (208 x 264 cm); Musee d'Orsay, Paris. From Anon (1986: 58). 4.11 Oil on canvas (1814 x 163 cm); Louvre, Paris. From Beckett (1994: 256). 4.12 Oil on canvas (130 x 190 cm); Musee d'Orsay, Paris. From Anon (1986: 59). 4.13 Oil on canvas (1190 x 1650 cm); Uffizi, Florence. From Berti, L., 1971, The Uffizi -All Paintings Exhibited in 657 Illustrations (Firenze: Becocci), 92. 4.14 Oil on canvas (130 x 175 cm); Phillips Collection, Washington DC. From Beckett (1994: 298.) 4.15 Pastel on paper (82 x 50 cm); National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. !bid. (293). 4.16 Oil on canvas (32 x 39 in.); Fogg Art Museum, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass. From Russell, J., 1991, The Meanings ofModern Art (London: Thames & Hudson), 20. 4.17 Pastel and distemper on paper (20 7/8 x 16 1/8 in.); Fogg Art Museum, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass. Ibid. (21). 4.18 Oil on canvas (39 x 49 cm); National Gallery, London. From Beckett (1994: 314). 4.19 Oil on canvas (90 x 92 cm); National Gallery, London. !bid. (296). 4.20 Oil on canvas (19 118 x 23 1/2 in.); Kunsthaus, Zurich. From Brion, M., 1974, Cezanne (London: Thames & Hudson), 64. 4.21 Oil on canvas (7 1/8 x 15 in.); private collection. Ibid. (45). 4.22 Oil on canvas (21 x 25 in.); location unspecified. From Wal1ace, R., 1971, The World o/Van Gogh -1853-1890 (Neth.: Time-Life), 46. 4.23 Oil on canvas (20 x 173/4 in.); location unspecified.lbid. (169). 4.24 Oil on canvas (44 3/4 x 34 1/4 in.); location unspecified. Ibid. (116). 4.25 Oil on canvas (37 x 28 1/2 in.); location unspecified. Ibid. (129). 4.26 Wood-block print from the series "One Hundred Views ofEdo" (13 1/4 x 85/8 in.); Brooklyn Museum, New York. From Varnedoe, K., 1990, The Meanings ofModern Art - What Makes Modem Art Modem? (London: Thames & Hudson), 59. 211 4.27 Oil on canvas (21 5/8 x 18 1/8 in.); National Museum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam. Ibid. (58) 4.28 Wood-block print from the series "One Hundred Views ofEdo" (13 1/4 x 8 5/8 in.); Brooklyn Museum, New York. Ibid. (55). 4.29 Oil on canvas (26 x 31 7/8 in.); Musee d'Orsay, Paris. Ibid. (54). 4.30 Oil on canvas (4 ft 7 1/2 x 12 ft 4 1/4 in.); location unspecified. From Wallace (1971: 134-145). CHAPTER 5 CUBISM 5.1 Oil on canvas (40.5 x 32.5 cm); Royal Museum ofFine Arts, Copenhagen. From Beckett, Sister W., 1994, The Story ofPainting -The Essential Guide to the History of Western Art (London: Dorling), 336. 5.2 Oil on canvas (21 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.); Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota. From Russell, 1., The Meanings ofModern Art (London: Thames), 45. 5.3 Oil on canvas (80 x 100 cm); Musee d'Orsay, Paris. From Anon, 1986, Painting in the Musee d'Orsay (paris: Scala), 155. 5.4 Oil on canvas; National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. From Beckett (1994: 335). 5.5 Unspecified reproduction. From Cameron and Spies (eds.), 1986, Nuwe Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika in Woord en Beeld (Cape Town: Human & Rousseau), 34. 5.6 With permission from Rich, P., 1996, "A Rainbow People - The Story of the Ndebele People", tv documentary dusk-jacket. 5.7 . Wood (n. dim.); Musee de l'Homme, Paris. From Abbate, F. (ed.), 1972, African and Oceanic Art (London: Octopus), 12. 5.8 Ibid. (21). 5.9 From Brion, M., 1974, Cezanne (London: Thames), 68. 5.10 Oil on canvas (2 1/4 x 18 7/8 in.); Louvre, Paris. Ibid. (69). 5.11 Oil on canvas (72 x 92 in.); Museum of Art, Philadelphia. Ibid. (67). 5.12 Oil on canvas (25 5/8 x 131 7/8 in.); Kunsthaus, Zurich. Ibid. (68). 5.13 Oil on canvas (n. dim.); Pushkin Museum of Art, Moscow. From Porzio and Valsecchi (eds.), 1974, Understanding Picasso (New York: Newsweek Books), fig. 19. 5.14 Oil on canvas (n, dim.); National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. From Beckett (1994: 346). 5.15 Oil on canvas (100 x 81 cm); Metropolitan Museum ofArt, New York. From Thomas, D., 1981, Picasso and his Art (lllinois: Value), 32. 5.16 Oil on canvas (93 x 73 cm); Museum of Art, Philadelphia. Ibid. (33). 5.17 Oil on canvas (244 x 238 cm); MoMA, New York. From Beckett (1994: 347), 5.18 (Above) Wooden mask, Etoumbi region, Congo (n. dim.); Musee Barbier-Miiller, Geneva. From Vamedoe, K., 1990, The Meanings ofModern Art- What Makes Modern Art Modern? (Thames & Hudson), 198, (Below) Wooden mask, Ivory Coast (n. dim.); Musee de l'Homme, Paris. Ibid. (199), 5.19 Pencil and pastel on paper (47 x 63. cm); Kunstmuseum, Basel. From Boudaille, G., 1987, Pablo Picasso (London: Alpine), 39. 5.20 Oil on canvas (127 x 196 cm); National Gallery, London. From Smith, R., 1995, Impressionism - Beneath the Surface (London: Orion), 151, 5.21 Pen and ink on paper (n. dim.); location unspecified. From Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism (London: Thames & Hudson), 54. 5.22 Oil on canvas (140 x 100 cm); private collection. From Cooper and Tinterow, 1983, The Essential Cubism - Braque, Picasso and Friends 1907-1920, Exhibition Catalogue (London: Tate Gallery), 39. 212 5.23 Oil on canvas (79 x 60 cm)~ private collection. From Cooper and Tinterow (1983: 43). 5.24 Oil on canvas (92 x 73.5 cm)~ Stedelijk van Abben Museum, Eindhoven. Ibid. (51). 5.25 Oil on canvas (53 x 60 cm)~ Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. From Boudaille (1987: 45). 5.26 Oil on canvas (92 x 42 cm)~ Guggenheim Museum, New Yark. From Cooper and Tinterow (1983: 53). 5.27 Oil on canvas (73 x 60 cm)~ Galerie Breyeler, Basel. Ibid. (250). 5.28 Oil on canvas (100 x 81 cm)~ Pushkin Museum, Moscow. From Porzio and Valsecchi (1974: fig. 42). . 5.29 Oil on canvas (55 x 45.5 cm)~ private collection. From Cooper and Tinterow (1983: 76). 5.30 Oil on canvas (50 x 130 cm)~ private collection. Ibid. (273). 5.31 Oil on canvas (100 x 73 cm)~ Museum ofModem Art, Philadelphia. Ibid. (274). 5.32 Oil and printed oil-cloth on canvas (29 x 37 cm)~ Musee Picasso, Paris. From Porzio and Valsecchi (1974: fig. 45). 5.33 Oil and sand on canvas (65 x 46 cm)~ location unspecified. From Boudaille (1987: 53). 5.34 Oil and charcoal on canvas (73 x 54 cm)~ private collection. From Cooper and Tinterow (1983: 90). 5.35 Cardboard, paper, gouache, charcoal and newspaper (no dim.), Musee Picasso, Paris. From Boudaille (1987: 55). 5.36 Collage (64 x 50 cm.)~ Washington Univ., StLouis. From Thomas (1981: 41). 5.37 Pasted papers, charcoal and ink on paper. (24 1/2 x 18 5/8 in.)~ MoMA, New York. From Varnedoe (1990: 207). 5.38 Oil on canvas (200 x 200 cm)~ Centre Georges Pompidou. From Cooper and Tinterow (1983: 313). 5.39 Gouache and graphite on paper (27 x 21 cm)~ National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Ibid (347). 5.40 Oil on canvas (200 x 228 cm)~ MoMA, New York. From Boudaille (1987: 25). 5.41 Oil on canvas (65 x 54 cm)~ Museum of Art, Rhode Art Island School ofDesign. From Cooper and Tinterow (1983: 437). 5.42 Oil on canvas (92 x 52 cm)~ Museum of Art, Columbus. Ibid. (431). 5.43 Oil on canvas (116x 97 cm)~ Kunsthammlung Nardrheim-Estfalen, Dusseldorf Ibid. (423). 5.44 Oil on canvas (n. dim.); location unspecified. From Nel, P. (ed.), 1990, lH Pierneef-His Life and Works (Cape Town: Perskor), 140. 5.45 Oil on canvas (92.5 x 72.5 cm)~ MoMA, New York. From Cooper and Tinterow (1983: 201). 5.46 Oil on canvas (193 x 130 cm); Kunstmuseum, Basel. Ibid. (209). 5.47 Oil on canvas (100 x 81 cm); private collection. Ibid. (210). 5.48 Oil on canvas (55 x 46 cm)~ private collection. Ibid. (141). 5.49 Oil on canvas (100 x 65 cm)~ private collection. Ibid. (151). 5.50 Oil on canvas (45 x 58 cm)~ National Gallery ofArt, Washington DC. From Beckett (1994: 261). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER 6 THE PICTORIAL DERIVATIVES OF CUBISM 6.1 Oil on canvas (175 x 115 cm), MoMA, New York. From Stangos, N. (ed.), 1991 ed. Concepts ofModern Art (London: Thames), fig. 45. 6.2 Oil on canvas (lOO x 107 cm); Sprengel Museum, Hannover. From Beckett, Sister W., 1994, The Story ofPainting - The Essential Guide to the History ofWestern Art (London: Dorling), 351. 6.3 Oil on canvas (38 1/8 x 471/4 in.); MoMA, New York. From Vamedoe, K, 1990, The Meanings ofModern Art - What Makes Modern Art Modern (London: Thames & Hudson), 151. 213 6.4 Oil on canvas with sequins (63 5/8 x 61 1/2 in.);Mo~ New York. From Russell, 1., 1991, The Meanings ofModem Art (London: Thames), 148. 6.5 Gouache on paper (42 x 34cm); Tate Gallery, London. From Stangos (1991 ed.: fig. 49). 6.6 Oil on canvas (52.7 x 72.4 cm);Mo~ New York. From Moszynska, A., 1990, Abstract Art (London: Thames & Hudson), 33. 6.7 Oil on canvas (30 x 24 cm); Art Centre, Des Moines. From Russell (1991: 161). 6.8 Oil on canvas (49. 5 x 65 cm); Musee National dlArt Moderne, Paris. Ibid. (18). 6.9 Oil on canvas (oval); Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice. Ibid. (18). 6.10 Oil on canvas (23314 x 211/4 in.); MoMA, New York. From Russell (1991: 116). 6.11 Oil on canvas (8 ft. 2 1/2 in. x 6 ft. 6 1/4 in.); Mo~ New York Ibid. (165). 6.12 Oil on canvas (186 x 193.3 cm); Musee National dlArt Moderne, Paris, From Moszynska (1990: 22). 6.13 Watercolour and oil on linen (17.3 x 38.5 cm); private collection. From Duchting, H., 1997, Paul Klee - Painting Music (Munich: Prestel-Verlag), 29. 6.14 Watercolour and ink on paper (36. 8 x 36 cm); private collection. From Barnert and Zweite, (eds.), 1992, Kandinsky Watercolours and Drawings (Munich: Prestel-Verlag), 86. 6.15 Oil on canvas (n. dim.); location unspecified. From Jaffe, H., 1990 ed., Mondrian (London: Thames & Hudson), 57. 6.16 Oil on canvas (44 7/8 x 34 1/4 in.); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. Ibid. (65). 6.17 Oil on canvas (59 x 33 7/8 in.); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. !bid. (77). 6.18 Oil on canvas (30 7/8 x 42314 in.); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. Ibid. (83). 6.19 Oil on canvas (30 3/4 x 41 3/4 in.); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. Ibid. (85). 6.20 Oil on canvas (oval.); location unspecified. Ibid. (87). 6.21 Oil on canvas (33 1/2 in. x 42518 in.); Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller, Otterlo. Ibid. (91). 6.22 (Left) Mijntekening (1914). Pencil and watercolour (n. dim.); Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller, OrterIo. From Carsten-Peter, Warnecke, De Stij11917-1931 (Cologne: Benedikt, 1991),38. (Centre) Study (1916). Gouache on paper (12.7 x 13.3 cm) Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller, Orterlo.lbid. (38). (Right) Study (1916). Gouache on paper (13.2 x 13 cm) Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller, Otterlo.Ibid. (39). 6.23 Oil on canvas (47 1/4 x 29 1/2 in.); Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York. From Jaffe (1990: 93). 6.24 Oil on canvas (19 1/4 x 23 7/8 in.); Max Bill Collection, Zurich. Ibid. (99). 6.25 Draft for stained glass window (n. dim.); whereabouts unknown. From Warnecke (1991:46). 6.26 Stained glass (39 x 26 cm); Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst, The Hague. Ibid. (47). 6.27 Oil on canvas (96.5 x 60.5 cm); Museum Ludwig, Cologne. !bid. (63). 6.28 Oil on canvas (39.5 x 35 cm); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. Ibid. (17). 6.29 Gouache and pencil on board (sketch-book); Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst, The Hague. !bid. (75). 6.30 Oil on canvas (129 x 114cm); private collection. Ibid. (79). 6.31 Oil on canvas (n. dim.); Kostakis Collection, Moscow. From Lodder, C., 1983, "The Kostakis Collection: New Insights into the Russian Avant-Garde", AD, vol. 53, no. 5/6: 20. 6.32 Oil on canvas (31 5/8 x 31 5/8 in.); MoMA, New York From Russell (1991: 242). 6.33 Unspecified reproduction. From Macrae-Gibson, G., 1985, The Secret Life ofBuildings: An American Anthology ofModern Architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press), 19. 6.34 Unspecified reproduction. From Weston, R., 1996, Modernism (London: Phaidon), 144. 6.35 Pencil on paper (4 1/2 x 7 in.); location unspecified. From Stangos (1991 ed.: fig. 66). 6.36 Pencil on paper (n. dim.); location unspecified. From Macrae-Gibson (1985: 69). 214 . 6.37 Oil on canvas (101.5 x 62 cm); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. From Stangos (1991 ed.: fig. 58). 6.38 Oil on canvas (38 1/2 in. x 261/8 in.); MoMA, New York. From Russel1 (1991: 241). 6.39 Oil on canvas (79 x 79 cm); MoMA, New York. From Stangos (1991 ed.: fig. 67). 6.40 Oil on canvas (66 x 47.5 cm); Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, Lugano. From Moszynska (1990: 60). 6.41 Unspecified reproduction. From Weston (1996: 147). 6.42 Lomonossov Factory. From Khan-Magomedov, 1987, Pioneers in Soviet Architecture - The Search for New Solutions, trans. A. Lieven (New York: Rizzoli), 36. 6.43 Lomonossov Factory. Ibid. CHAPTER 7 "AFTER CUBISM": PURISM 7.1 The Fireplace. Oil on canvas (60 x 73 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Bosson, V., Von Moos, S., Naegele, D., et aI., 1995, Le Corbusier, Painter and Architect, exhibition catalogue, Nodjylands KUQstmuseum, Copenhagen: 30 Sept.-lO Dec. 1995 (Denmark: Linde Tryk),97. 7.2 Still-Life with Book, Glass andPipe. Oil on canvas (n. dim.); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Baker, G., 1996, Le Corbusier - The Creative Search (London: E & FN Spont 97. 7.3 Pencil on paper (n. dim.); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (247). 7.4 Pencil on paper (n. dim.); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris.. Ibid. 7.5 The White Bowl. Oil on canvas (n. dim.); Fohdation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (248). 7.6 The RedBowl. Oil on canvas (&1 x 65 cm); Fondation Le Corhusier, Paris. Ibid. 7.7 Still-Life with Egg. Oil on canvas (n. diin.); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (252). 7.8 Pen and ink on paper (n. dim.); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (254). 7.9 Pen and ink on paper (n. dim.); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (253). 7.10 Study ofPurist Object: Bottle, Decanter, Book and Pipe. Pen and ink on paper (15 x 13 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Bosson, Von Moos, Naegele, et al. (1995: 97). 7.11 Composition with Guitar andLantern, with regulating lines. Oil on canvas (n. dim.); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Baker (1996: 255). 7.12 Vertical Guitar. Oil on canvas (100 x 81 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Bosson, Von Moos, Naegele, et al (1995: 31). 7.13 Still-Life with Red Violin. Oil on canvas (lOO x 81 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (30). 7.14 Still-Life with a Pile ofPlates. Oil on canvas (n. dim.); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Baker (1996: 244). 7.15 Still-Life with Siphon. Oil on canvas (73 x 60 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Bosson, Von Moos, Naegele, et al (1995: 36). 7.16 Pale Still-Life with Lantern. Oil on canvas (81 x 100 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (16). 7.17 The Bottle ofOrange Wine. Oil on canvas (60 x 73 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. Cl 00). 7.18 The Bottle ofOrange Wine, with regulating lines. Ibid. (86). 7.19 Still-Life with Numerous Objects. Oil on canvas (114 x 146 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. !bid. (166). 7.20 Bottle and Book. Oil on canvas (n. dim.); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (41). 7.21 The Accordion Player [Woman with Accordifm andRunnerj. Oil on canvas (n. dim.); location unspecified. Ibid. (140). 7.22 Still-Life with Pear. Oil on canvas (146 x 89 cm); location unspecified. Ibid. (48). 215 7.23 Woman with Table and Horseshoe. Oil on canvas (146 x 89 cm); location unspecified. From Bosson, Von Moos, Naegele, et al (1995: 45). 7.24 Still-Life - The Wood-Cutter. Oil on canvas (89 x 146 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (169). 7.25 The Daughter of the Light-House Keeper. Oil on canvas (n. dim.); location unspecified. Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (169). 7.26 The Dancer and the Little Feline. Oil on canvas (146 x 89 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (105). 7.27 Graphite, pen and watercolour on paper (21 x 27 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (182). 7.28 Painted wood (70 cm); location unspecified. Ibid. (175). 7.29 Reconstructed drawing. Galls., D" 1987, The Le Corbusier Guide (New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press), 76. 7.30 Photograph by author. 7.31 Still-Life with Siphon. Oil on canvas (73 x 60 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Bosson, Von Moos, Naegele, et al (1995: 36). 7.32 Oil and sand on canvas (65 x 46 cm); location unspecified. From Boudaille, G., 1987, Pablo Picasso (London: Alpine), 53. CHAPTER 8 THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PURIST ART AND PURIST ARCIDTECTURE 8.1 Original drawing. From Boesinger, W., 1972, Le Corbusier, Works and Projects (Barcelona: Ingoprint), 11. 8.2 Ibid. 8.3 Ibid 8.4 Ibid 8.5 Ibid 8.6 Ibid 8.7 From Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, P., 1929; 1964, The Complete Architectural Works, Volume 1, 1920-1929 (London: Thames & Hudson), 15. 8.8 Ibid. (24). 8.9 Ibid. (25). 8.10 Ibid. (36, 37). 8.11 Ibid. (35, 33). 8.12 Pencil on paper (18 x 11 cm); location unspecified. From Baker, G., 1996, Le Corbusier- The Creative Search (London: E & FN Spon), 35. 8.13 Gouache and pencil on paper (27 x 21 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid.: 32. 8.14 Ibid. (51). 8.15 lbid. (53). 8.16 From Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, P. (1929; 1964: 102, 103). 8.17 The RedBowl. Oil on canvas (81 x 65 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Baker (1996: 248). 8.18 From Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, P. (1929; 1964: 43). 8.19 Still-life with Red Violin. Oil on canvas (100 x 81 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Bosson, V., Von Moos, S., Naegele, D., et al., 1995, Le Corbusier, Painter and Architect, exhibition catalogue, Nodjylands Kunstmuseum, Copenhagen: 30 Sept.-IO Dec. 1995 (Denmark: Linde Tryk), 30. 8.20 Still-Life with a Pile ofPlates, reconstruction with regulating lines. From Baker (1996: 271). 216 8.21 (Above) Reconstructed drawings. From Benton, T., 1987, The Villas ofLe Corbusier, 1920-1930 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press), 34, 35. (Below) Original drawings with regulating lines. From Boesinger (1972, 23). 8.22 (Above) From Le Corbusierand Jeanneret, P. (1929; 1964: 62). (Below) Reconstructed drawing. From brochure, Musee Maisons La Roche-Jeanneret I Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. 8.23 Still-Life with Numerous Objects. Oil on canvas (114 x 146 cm); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. From Hosson, Von Moos, Naegele, et al. (1995: 166). 8.24 Bottle and Book. Oil on canvas (n. dim.); Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. Ibid. (41). 8.25 Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, P. (1929; 1964: 130, 131). 8.26 Ibid. (142, 143, 144). 8.27 Ibid. (180, 181). 8.28 (Above) Reconstructed drawings. From brochure, Musee Villa Savoye, Poissy. (Below) From Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, P. (1929; 1964: 193). 8.29 The Bottle ofOrange Wine, with regulating lines. From Bosson, Von Moos, Naegele, et al. (1995: 100). 8.30 Conversion of original drawing. From Gans, D., 1987, The Le Corbusier Guide (New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press), 25. 8.31 Le Corbusier, 1923; 1987, Towards a New Architecture, trans. Etchell, F. (New York: Dover), 150. 8.32 Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, P. (1929; 1964: 50). 8.33 Ibid. (93). 8.34 Ibid. (159). 8.35 Ibid. (193). 8.36 Reconstructed drawings. From Ching, F., 1979, Architecture -Form, Space and Order (New York: Van Nostrand), 150. 8.37 Reconstructed drawings. From Baker (1996: 229, 230, 231). 8.38 Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, P. (1929; 1964: 41,40). 8.39 Ibid. (49). 8.40 Ibid. (53, 55). 8.41 (Above) Original drawing. From Benton (1987: 73). (Below) Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, P. (1929; 1964: 66). 8.42 Reconstructed drawings. From Haraguchi, H., 1988, A Comparative Analysis of20th Century Houses (London: Academy Editions), 48-49. 8.42 Ibid. (50). CHAPTER 9 THE VOLUMETRIC TRANSFORMATION OF CUBO-FUTURISM: THE SOVIET AVANT-GARDE 9.1 Bronze (n. dim.) From Cooper and Tinterow, 1983, The Essential Cubism - Braque, Picasso and Friends 1907-1920, Exhibition Catalogue (London: Tate Gallery), 361. 9.2 Cardboard, paper, string, canvas, oil and graphite (33 x 16.3 x 7.5 cm); Musee Picasso, Paris. Ibid. (363). 9.3 Painted metal and wood (circle), Musee Picasso, Paris. Ibid. (371). 9.4 Painted wood (34 x 8.5 cm); location unspecified. Ibid. (369). 9.5 Limestone (75.5 cm); Yale Univ. Gallery, New Haven. Ibid. (407). 9.6 Painted metal and wood (61 cm); private collection. Ibid. (387). 9.7 Bronze (n. dim.); MoMA, New York. From Hughe, R. (ed.), 1967 ed., Larousse Encyclopedia ofModem Art (London: Harnlyn), 255. 217 9.8 Gouache, oil, cardboard, assorted metals and wood (113 x 97 x 115 cm); Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Venice. From Moszynska, A., 1990, Abstract Art (London: Thames & Hudson), 31. 9.9 Unspecified reproduction. From Khan-Magomedov, S., 1987, Pioneers in Soviet Architecture - The Search for New Solutions, trans. Lieven, A. (New York: Rizzoli), 38. 9.10 Iron and wood (78.5 x 80 x 70 cm), 1980 reconstruction; whereabouts unknown. From Moszynska (1990: 73). 9.11 Wood, metal and cardboard (69.8 x 48 x 7 cm); National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Ibid. (73). 9.12 Unspecified reproduction. From Khan-Magomedov (1987: 42). 9.13 Ibid. (42). 9.14 Plastic, wood and metal (n. dim.); Solomon Guggenheim Gallery, New York. From Hughe (1967: 328). 9.15 Plastic (n. dim.), 1951 reconstruction; Solomon Guggenheim Gallery, New York. Ibid.: 328. 9.16 Original drawings. From Khan-Magomedov (1987: 40). 9.17 Unspecified reproduction. Ibid. (43). 9.18 Ibid. (44). 9.19 Ibid. (45). 9.20 Ibid. (46). 9.21 Ibid. (47). 9.22 Ibid. (47). 9.23 Ibid. (46). 9.24 Ibid. (48). 9.25 Original drawings. Ibid. (49). 9.26 Ibid. (49). 9.27 Ibid. (164). 9.28 Unspecified reproduction. Ibid. (62). 9.29 !bid. (175). 9.30 Ibid. (177). 9.31 !bid. (31). 9.32 Ibid. 9.33 Ibid. (33). 9.34 Reconstruction. From Moszynska (1990: 89). 9.35 Unspecified reproduction. From Khan-Magomedov (1987: 50). 9.36 Ibid. (52). 9.37 Fonnerly unpublished manuscript; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. From Macrae-Gibson, G., 1985, The Secret Life ofBuildings: An American Anthology ofModem Architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press), 22. 9.38 Malevitch, 1987, Oeuvres de Casimir Severinovitch Malevitch (1878-1935), Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou. Ibid. (23). 9.39 Original drawings. From Khan-Magomedov (1987: 34). 9.40 Vintage photograph ofmodel. Ibid. (34). 9.41 Ibid. (35). 9.42 Unspecified reproduction. Ibid. (53). 9.43 Original drawings. Ibid. (54). 9.44 Ibid. (55). 9.45 Ibid. (79). 9.46 Ibid. (81). 9.47 Unspecified reproductions. Ibid. (60, 118, 120, 124, 125). 9.48 Original drawings. Ibid. (180). 9.49 Ibid. (183). 218 9.50 Ibid. (184). 9.51 (Left) Ibid. (213). (Right) Vintage photograph. !bid. (213). 9.52 From Cooke, c., 1989, "The Development of the Constructivist Architect's Design Method" in Papadakis, A. (ed.), Deconstruction Omnibus Volume, (London: Academy Editions), 29. 9.53 From Papadakis (ed.), ibid. (48-49). 9.54 From Cherriikhov, 1., 1931, extract from The Construction ofMachine Forms in ibid. (39). 9.55 Ibid. (39, 56, 57). 9.56 Original drawings. Ibid. (60). 9.57 Ibid. 9.58 Ibid. (61). CHAPTER 10 THE TECTONIC INCARNATION OF ABSTRACT ART: DE STIJL 10.1 From Nuttgens, P., 1980,. The World's Great Architecture -From the Pyramids to the Centre Pompidou (London: Hamlyn), 297. 10.2 Warnecke, C-P., 1991, De Stij11917-1931 (Cologne: Benedikt Tashen), 93. 10.3 Vintage photograph. Ibid. (101). 10.4 Ibid. (114). 10.5 Original drawing. Ibid. (115). 10.6 Vintage photograph. Ibid. (91). 10.7 Composition vi. Gouache on paper (74.4 x 31 cm); private collection. !bid. (100.) 10.8 Ibid. (97). 10.9 Gouache and collage on grey cardboard (98 x 73.5 cm); Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst, The Hague. Ibid. (98). 10.10 Colour study for exterior of Block viii. Ink and watercolour (35.6 x 53.3 cm); Institut Neerlandais, Paris. Ibid. (103). 10.11 Colour study. Pencil, ink and watercolour (19 x 60 cm); Streekmuseum It Bleekerhfis, Drachten. Ibid. (110). 10.12 Reconstruction; Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. Ibid. (117). 10.13 Vintage photograph. Ibid. (119). 10.14 Beech wood (87 x 60 x 60 cm); Friedman Gallery, New Yark. Ibid. (125). 10.15 Painted beech wood (88 x 68 x 64 cm); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Ibid. (121). 10.16 Oil on canvas (96.5 x 60.5 cm); Museum Ludwig, Cologne. Ibid. (17). 10.17 Oil on canvas (39.5 x 35 cm); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. Ibid. (63). 10.18 Van Doesburg, 1925 revision of original colour scheme. Ink, gouache and collage on paper (27 x 21 cm); Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst. !bid. (130). 10.19 Vintage photograph. Ibid. (131). 10.20 Painted beech wood (50 x 50 x 59.5 cm); reproduction.lbid. (126). 10.21 Incandescent globes and oak (35 x 35 x 130 cm); reproduction. Ibid. (128). 10.22 Vintage photograph. lbid. (150). 10.23 lbid. (129). 10.24 Painted beech wood (74 x 58 x 106 cm); Friedman Gallery, New York? Ibid. (127). 10.25 Ink and gouache on paper (45.7 x 64.7 cm); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. Ibid. (148). 10.26 Colour study. Ink and watercolour on paper; Nederlands Documentatiecentrum voor de Bauwkunst, Amsterdam. Ibid. (105). 10.27 Colour study. Watercolour and ink on paper; Nederlands Documentatiecentrum voor de Bauwkunst, Amsterdam. Ibid. (108). 10.28 Pencil, gouache and collage on paper (63.4 x 146 cm); Nederlands Documentatiecentrum voor de Bauwkunst, Amsterdam. Ibid. (112-113). 219 10.29 From Warnecke (1991: 161). 10.30 Vintage photograph of model. Ibid. (162). 10.31 Reconstructed model. Ibid. (169). 10.32 Reconstructed model. !bid. (172). 10.33 Ibid. (136) 10.34 Wood painted blue (18x 12 x 12 cm); private collection. Ibid. (84). 10.35 Rotated views, unspecified reproduction. From Stangos, N. (ed.), 1991 ed. Concepts of Modem Art (London: Thames), fig. 69. 10.36 Vintage photograph. Ibid. (101). 10.37 Original drawing. Ibid. (115). 10.38 Pencil, ink and gouache on paper (37 x 38 cm); Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst, The Hague. Ibid. (165). 10.39 Unspecified reproduction. Ibid. (173). 10.40 Ink and gouache on paper (56.3 x 56 cm); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Ibid. (170). 10.41 Ink and gouache on paper (57.5 x 57 cm); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Ibid. (171). 10.42 Technical drawing. From Stangos (1991 ed.: fig. 76). 10.43 Oil on canvas (15 x 13 3/4 in.); Rothschild Collection, Ossining, New York. From Jaffe, H., 1990 ed., Mondrian (London: Thames & Hudson), 109. 10.44 Incandescent globes and oak (35 x 35 x 130 cm); reproduction. From Warnecke (1991: 128). 10.45 Fragment, oil on canvas (42 5/8 x 425/8 in.); Kroller-Muller State Museum, Otterlo. From Jaffe (1990: 95). 10.46 Reconstructed drawing, From Stangos (1991 ed.: fig. 80) 10.47 Oil on canvas (23 1/4 x 22 1/4 in.); Sidney Jams Gallery, New York. From Jaffe (1990: 117). 10.48 (Above) Assumed reconstructed drawings. From Frampton, K., 1980, Modern Architecture: A Critical History (London: Thames), 146. (Centre) Warnecke (1991: 136). (Below) Ibid. (141, 142). 10.49 Oil on canvas (136 x 61.50 cm); MoMA, New York. From Stangos (1991 ed.: fig. 75). 10.50 Oil on canvas (79 x 79 cm); MoMA, New York. Ibid. (fig. 67). 10.51 Reconstructed drawing. From Banham, R. 1960a; 1996. The Theory and Design in the First Machine Age (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press), 110. 10.52 Original perspective. Ibid. (109). 10.53 Reconstructed drawing. Ibid. (130). 10.54 Vintage photograph. From Martienssen, R., July 1941, "Constructivism", South African Architectural Record, vol. 27, no. 7: 253. 10.55 Oil on canvas (102 x 102 cm); National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Ibid. (71). 10.56 Oil on canvas (100 x 180 cm); Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. Ibid. (77). 10.57 Unspecified reproduction. Ibid. (78). 10.58 Ibid.(178). 10.59 Wood, copper and plexi-glass (n.dim.). Ibid. (80). 10.60 Pencil, ink and gouache (54 x 61 cm); Stedelijk van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven. Original drawing. From Warnecke (1991: 174). 10.61 (Above) Vintage photograph. !bid. (185). (Below) Drawing. Ibid. 10.62 (Above) Vintage Photograph. Ibid. (Below) Drawing, Ibid. (187). 10.63 Ibid. (181). 10.64 Ibid. 10.65 Vintage photograph. Ibid. (175). 10.66 Unspecified reproduction. Ibid. (176). 220 10.67 Vintage photograph. From Wamecke (1991: 145). 10.68 Ibid. (146). 10.69 Ibid (147). 10.70 Hitchcock, H-R., and Johnson, P., 1932; 1995, The International Style [Architecture Since 1922} (New York: Norton), 199. 10.71 Ibid. (205). 10.72 Ibid. (203). 10.73 (Left) Pencil and coloured pencil (95 x 55 cm); Rijksdienst Museum, The Hague.Wamecke (1991: 196). (Right) Vintage photograph. Ibid 10.74 Original drawing. Ibid. (155). CHAPTER 11 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS 11.1 Original drawing. From Macrae-Gibson, G., 1985, The Secret Life ofBuildings: An American Anthology ofModern Architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press), 24. 11.2 Oil on canvas (28 x 27 1/2 in.); MoMA, New York. Ibid. 11.3 Original drawing. Ibid. (26). 11.4 Oil on canvas (n. dim.); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Ibid 11.5 Original drawing. !bid. (33). 11.6 Original drawing. Ibid. 11.7 Oil on canvas (102 x 102 cm); National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. From Wamecke, P-C., 1991, De Stij/1917-1931 (Cologne: Benedikt Tashen), 71. 11.8 Unspecified reproduction. Ibid. (78). 11.9 Wood, copper and plexi-glass (n. dim.). Ibid. (80). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 221 BIBLIOGRAPHY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~-- Abbate, F. (ed.) 1972. African Art and Oceanic Art. London: Octopus Books Ltd. Alberti, L. 1755, Leoni ed.; 1986. Ten Books ofArchitecture. New York: Dover. Allard, R Nov. 1910; 1966. "Au Salon d'Automne de Paris", L'Art Libre; translation published as "At the Paris Salon d'Automne" in Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson, 62. Anon. 1963. L'Opera di Le Corbusier. Exhibition catalogue. Florence: Palazzo Strozzi. Anon. 1985, 15th ed. New Encyclopcedia Britannica. 32 Vols. Chicago: Chicago Univ. Press. Anon. 1986. Paintings in the Musee d'Orsay. Paris: Scala Publications Ltd. Apollinaire, G. 1913; 1966. Les Peintres Cubistes (paris); translated excerpt published as "The Cubist Painters" in Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson, 10-12. Arnheim, R 1954; 1974. Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology ofthe Creative Eye. Berkley: California Press. Baker, G. 1966. Le Corbusier - The Creative Search. London: E & FN Spon. Banham, R 1960a; 1996. Theory and Design in the FirstMachine Age. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Banham, R 1960b; 1975. "Conclusion: Functionalism and Technology"; reprinted in Serenyi, P. (ed.), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 56-57. Banham, R 1962; 1975. The Age ofThe Masters. Surrey: Architectural Press. Barash, M. 1985. Theories ofArt: From Plato to Winckelmann. New York: New York Univ. Press. Barnett and Zweite. (eds.) 1992. Kandinsky - Watercolours and Drawings. Munich: Prestal Verlag. Beckett, Sister W. 1994. The Story ofPainting - The Essential Guide to the History of Western Art. London: Dorling Kindersley Ltd. Behrendt, W. 1937; 1975. "Le Corbusier"; reprinted in Serenyi, P. (ed.), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 44-45. BenevoIa, L. 1971. The History ofModern Architecture, Vo/. 2. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Benton, T. 1987. The Villas ofLe Corbusier, 1920-1930. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. Berger, J. 1972. Ways ofSeeing. London: Penguin. Berti, L. 1971. The Ujfizi - All Paintings Exhibited in 657 Illustrations. Firenze: Becocci Editore. Besset, M. 1968. Who Was Le Corbusier? Translation by Kemball, R. Geneva: Editions d'Art Albert Skiva. BIau, E. and Toy, N. (eds.) 1997. Architecture and Cubism. Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture. Boccioni, U. 11 April 1912; 1968. "Manifesto Tecnico della Scultura Futurista"; translation published as "Technical Manifesto ofFuturist Sculpture" in Chipp, H. (ed.), 1968, Theories ofModern Art. Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press, 298-304. Boesiger, W. 1972. Le Corbusier, Works and Projects. Barcelona: Ingoprint. Bois, Y-A. 1992. "The Semiology of Cubism", Symposium, no. 4: 169-208. Bois, Y-A. 1995. "Cubistic, Cubic, and Cubist" in Blau, E. and Troy, N. (eds.), Architecture and Cubism, Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 187-194. Bosson, V., Von Moos, S., Naegele, D., et al. 1995. Le Corbusier, Painter and Architect. Exhibition catalogue, Nodjyllands Kunstmuseum, Copenhagen: 30 Sept-10 Dec, 1995. Denmark: Linde Tryk. Bosson, V. 1995a. "Meeting with Le Corbusier" in Bosson, v., Von Moos, S., Naegele, D., et aI., Le Corbusier, Painter and Architect. Denmark: Linde Tryk, 10-16. 222 Bosson, V. 1995b. "Le Corbusier - The Architect who became a Painter and Sculptor" in Bossoll, v., Von Moos, S., Naegele, et al., Le Corbusier, Painter andArchitect. Denmark: Linde Tryk, 17-58. Brion, M. 1974. Cezanne. London: Thames & Hudson. Broadbent, G. 1988. Design in Architecture: Architecture and the Human Sciences. London: D. Fuller. Broadbent, G. (guest. ed.) 1991. "Deconstruction- A Student Guide", UIA Journal of Architectural Theory and Criticism. London: Academy Editions. Boudaille, G. 1987. Pablo Picasso. London: Alpine Fine Arts Collection. :prown, M. 1991. Art Under Stalin. Oxford: Phaidon. Biihrman, H. 1982. "Origins and Development of Architectural Perception". Unpublished M. Arch. dissertation, Faculty of Science, Univ. of the Orange Free State. Burgin, V. 1987, "Geometry and Abjection", AA Files, no. 15: 35-41. Cameron and Spies. (eds.) 1986. Nuwe Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika in Woord en Beeld. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau. Chagall, M. 1995 ed. Marc ChagallMy Life. New York: Orion. Chernikhov, I. 1930; 1989. "Fundamentals of Contemporary Architecture Mid-1920s"; translated extract from Osnovy Sovremennoi Arkhitektury (Fundamentals of Contemporary Architecture, Leningrad), translation published in AD - Russian Constructivism and Iakov Chernikhov, vol. 59, no. 7/8: 46-50. Chernikhov, 1 1940s; 1989. "Palaces for Soviet Socialism"; formely unpublished autobiographical notes in AD - Russian Constructivism and Iakov Chernikhov, vol. 59, no. 7/8: 82-99. Chernikhov, I. 1931, 1989. "The Construction ofArchitectural and Machine Forms Mid-late 208"; translated extract from Konstruktsiia Arkhitektunykh i Mashinykh Form (The Construction of Architectural and Machine Forms, Leningrad), published in AD - Russian Constructivism and Iakov Chernikhov, vol. 59, no. 7/8: 58-65. Ching, F. 1979. Architecture - Form, Space and Order. New York: Van Nostrand. Chipp, H. (ed.) 1968. Theories ofModern Art. Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press. Coli, J. 1996. "Structure and Play in Le Corbusier's Art Work", AA Files, no. 31: 3-15. CoIlins, P. 1954; 1975. "Modular"; reprinted in Serenyi, P. (ed.), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 79-83. CoIlins, P. 1965; 1998. Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture 1670-1950. Montreal: McGill-Queen's Univ.Press. CoIlinson, D. 1988 ed. Fifty Major Philosophers: A reference Guide. London: Routledge. Conrads, U. (ed.) 1964; 1970. Programs andManifestoes of20th-centUlY Architecture. Translation by Humphries, L. Cambridge, Mass.: :MIT Press. Cooke, C. (guest ed.) 1983. Russian Avant-Garde -Art andArchitecture. London: Academy Editions. Cooke, C. 1989a. "The Development of the Constructivist Architects' Design Method", in Papadakis, A. (ed.), Deconstruction Omnibus Volume. London: Academy Editions, 26-36. Cooke, C. 1989b. "The Machine as a Model- The Russian Constructivists' Conception of the Design Process", AD - Russian Constructivism and Iakov Chernikhov, vol. 59, no. 7/8: x-xv. Cooke, C. 1989c. "Images or Intel1igence", AD - Russian Constructivism and Iakov Chernikhov, vol. 59, no. 7/8. London, v-ix. Cooke, C. 1989d. "Chernikhov, Suprematism and Constructivism", AD - Russian Constructivism and Iakov Chernikhov, vol. 59, no. 7/8: 13-17. Coop Himmelblau. 1984. Architecture is Now. London: Thames & Hudson. Cooper and Tinterow. 1983. The Essential Cubism - Braque, Picasso and Friends 1907-1920. Exhibition catalogue. London: Tate Gallery. 223 Copplestone, T. 1985. Modem Art. London: Deans Intl Publishing. Copplestone, T. 1969. Architecture - The Great Art ofBuilding. London: Hamlyn. Cottington, D. 1997. "The Maison Cubiste and the Meaning ofModernism in Pre-1914 France" in Blau, E. and Troy, N. (eds.), Architecture and Cubism. Montreal: Candian Centre for Architecture, 17-40. Curtis, W. 1996 ed. Modem Architecture since 1900. New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Damaz, P. 1956. Art in European Architecture. New York: Reinhold. De la Porte, J-P. March/April 1988. "The Corbusian Text", Architecture SA: 35-37. De Beer, J. (ed.) 1985. Kleur en Argitektuur. Rotterdam: Uitgeverij 010. Doczi, G. 1981. Power ofLimits - Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art and Architecture. Boulder, Colo.: Shambhala Publications. Doig, A. 1986. Theo van Doesburg - Painting into Architecture, Theory into Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. Doremus, T. 1985. Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier - The Great Dialogue. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Dreyer, P. 1974 ed. Die Wysbegeerte van die Grieke. Pretoria: Van Schaik. Droste, M. 1990. Bauhaus. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen. Diichting, B. 1997. Paul Klee - Painting Music. Munich: Prestel-Verlag. Dunning, R. 1991. Changing Images ofPictorial Space -A History ofSpatial Illusion in Painting. New York: Saracuse Univ. Press. Dunster, D. (ed.) 1979. "Michael Graves", Architectural Monographs, no. 5. London: Academy Editions. Eisenman,P. 1990. "Aspects ofModernism: Maison Dom-ino and the Self-Referential Sign", Oppositions, no. 15: 119-128. Fletcher, Sir. B. 1945, 12th ed. A History ofArchitecture on the Comparative Method. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd. Francastel, P. 195}; 1963. "The Destruction ofPlastic Space" in Sypher, W. (ed and trans.), Art History, An Anthology ofModem Criticism, New York: Vintage Books, 378-398. Fisher, R. 1989. "A Paradigmatic Approach to Architectural History: Postmodernism." Unpublished M. Arch. dissertation, Faculty ofNatural Sciences, Univ. ofPretoria. Frampton, K 1968; 1991ed. "De Stijl"; reprinted in Stangos, N. (ed.), 1991 ed., Concepts of Modem Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 141-159. Frampton, K. 1980. Modern Architecture: A Critical History. London: Thames & Hudson. Frayling and Van der Meer. 1992. The Art Pack: Unique Three-dimensional Tour through the Creation ofArt over the Centuries. New York: Knopf Friedman, M. (ed.) 1982; 1988. De Stijl: 1917-1931- Visions ofUtopia. Oxford: Phaidon. Fry, E. (ed.). 1966. Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gabo and Pevsner. 5 Aug. 1920; 1968. "Realistic Manifesto"; translation published in Chipp, H. (ed.), 1968, Theories ofModern Art. Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press, 325-330. Gans, D. 1987. The Le Corbusier Guide. New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press. Gardiner, S. 1974. Le Corbusier. London: Fontana. Giedion, S. 1941; 1967. Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth ofa New Tradition. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Univ. Press. Glusberg, J. (ed.) 1991. "Deconstruction - A Student Guide", UIA Journal ofArchitectural Theory and Criticism. London: Academy Editions. 224 Golding, J. 1967; 1991. "Cubism"; reprinted in Stangos, N. (ed), 1991 ed., Concepts ofModem Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 50-78. Golding, J. 1994. Visions ofthe Modem. London: Thames & Hudson. Green, C. 1987. Cubism and its Enemies. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. Green, C. 1991.'~Purism" in Stangos, N. (ed.), 1991 ed., Concepts ofModem Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 79-84. Gris, J. Jan. 1925; 1968. "Chez les Cubistes", Bulletin de la Vie Artistique; translation published as "Juan Gris, Response to a Questionnaire on Cubism" in Chipp, H. (ed.), 1968, Theories of Modem Art. Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press, 274-277. Guedes, A. Jan./Feb. 1988. "The Paintings and Sculptures ofLe Corbusier", Architecture SA: 23-26. Guiton, J. (ed.). 1981. The Ideas ofLe Corbusier on Architecture and Urban Planning. NewYork: George Braziller. Haraguchi, H. 1988. A Comparative Analysis of20th Century Houses. London: Academy Editions. Harmsen, G. De Stijl and the Russian Revolution in Friedman, M., 1982; 1988, De Stijl: 1917-1931- Visions ofUtopia. Oxford: Phaidon, 45-50. Heilbroner. R 1980. The Wordly Philosophers - The Lives, Times and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers. New York: Touchstone. Hitchcock H-R 1948. Painting Toward Architecture. New York: Duell, Sloane and Pearce. Hitchcock, H-R. and Johnson,;P. 1932; 1995. the International Style: Architecture Since 1922; reprinted as The International Style. New York: Norten & Co. Hochman, E. 1989. Architects ofFortune: Mies van del' Rohe and the Third Reich. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Hughe, R. (ed.) 1967 ed. Larousse Encyclopedia ofModem Art. London: Paul Hamlyn. Hughe, R. 2 act. 1989. "Adam and Eve ofModernism - Picasso and Braque's Passionate Adventure in Cubism", Time: 58. Itten, J. 1963; 1975. Design andForm - The Basic Course at the Bauhaus. London: Thames & Hudson. Jam~, H. 1969; 1990. Mondrian. London: Thames & Hudson. Jencks, C. 1973. Le Corbusier and the Tragic View ofArchitecture. London: Penguin. Jencks, C.. 1977. The Language ofPost-Modem Architecture. New York: Rizzoli. Jencks, C. 1980. Late-Modem Architecture and Other Essays. London: Academy Editions. Jencks, C. 1988. "Late-Modernism vs Post-Modernism: The Two-Party System", UIA Journal of Architectural Theory and Criticism. London: Academy Editions, 27-38. Jencks, C. 1990. The Neo-Modems: From Late to Neo-Modemism. New Yark: Rizzoli. Johnson, P. and Wigley, M. 1988. Deconstructivist Architecture. New York: MoMA. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Khan-Magomedov, S. 1987. Pioneers ofSoviet Architecture - The Search for New Solutions in the 1920s and 1930s. Translation by Lieven, A. New York: Rizzoli. Kemp, M. 1987. "Perspective Rectified - Some Alternative Systems in the 19th Century", AA Files, no. 15: 30-34. Kirsch, K. 1989. The Weissenhofsiedlung. New York: Rizzoli. Kokkinaki, 1. 1983. "The First Exhibition ofModern Architecture in Moscow" AD - Russian, Avant-garde Art and Architecture, vol. 53, no. 5/6: 58-61. Krustrup, M. 1995. "Persona" in Bosson, v., Von Moos, S. Naegele, D. et a/., Le Corbusier, Painter and Architect. Denmark: LInde Tryk, 118-158. Kurtich, J. and Eakin, G. 1993. Interior Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 225 Laclotte, et al. 1986. Painting in the Musee d'Orsay. Paris: Scala Publications Ltd. Laude, J. 1971; 1971. The Arts ofBlack Africa. Translation by Decock., J. Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press. Le Corbusier. 1923; 1987. Towards a New Architecture. Translation by Etchell, F. New York: Dover. Le Corbusier. 1925; 1987. The Decorative Art of Today. Translation by Dunnett, 1. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Le Corbusier. 1926 "Five Points towards a New Architecture", Almanache de l'Architecture Moderne; reprinted in Conrads, U. (ed.), 1970 ed., Programs and Manifestoes of20th-century Architecture. Translated by Humphries, L. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 99-101. Le Corbusier and Jeanneret, P. 1929; 1964. The Complete Architectural Works, Volume 1, 1920-1929. Trans. Boesiger, W. London: Thames & Hudson. Le Corbusier. 1948a. New World ofSpace. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock. Le Corbusier. 1948b. The Modulor. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press. Le Corbusier. 1958. Modulor 2. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press. Leger, F. 1913; 1966. "Les Origines de la Peintres et sa Valeur Representative", Mongoie! ; translation published as "The Origins ofPainting and its Representational Value" in Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson, 121-126. Leger, F. June 1914; 1966. "Les Realisations Picturales Actuelles", Soirees de Paris (paris).; translation published as "Contemporary Achievements in Painting" in Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson, 135-139. Lloyd-Jones, H. (ed.) 1965. The Greek World. England: Penguin. Lodder, C. Oct. 1976; 1983. ·"The Kostakis Collection: New Insights into the Russian Avant-garde", AD - Russian Avant-garde Art and Architecture, no. 5/6: 20-25. Lowman, J. Oct. 1976. "Corb as Structural Rationalist", ArchitecturalReview: 229-233. Lowman, J. 1979. "Le Corbusier 1900-1925: The Years of Transition.", Ph. D. thesis, Univ. of London. Lucie-Smith, E. 1987. Movements in Art Since 1945. London: Thames & Hudson. Lucie-Smith, E. 1980. Art in the Seventies. Oxford: Phaidon Press. Lupton and Miller. (eds.) 1993. The ABC's of the Triangle, Square and Circle: The Bauhaus and Design Theory. London: Thames & Hudson. Lynton, N. 1974; 1991 ed. "Expressionism" in Stangos, N. (ed.), 1991 ed., Concepts ofModern Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 30-49. Lynton, N. 1991 ed. "Futurism"; reprinted in Stangos, ed., Concepts ofModern Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 97-105. Lyotard, J-F. 1984. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Eng.: Manchester Univ. Press. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Macrae-Gibson, G. 1985. The Secret Life ofBuildings: An American Mythology for Modern Architecture. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Margolius, I. 1975, Cubism in Arcitecture and the Applied Arts: Bohemia and France 1910-1914. London: David & Charles. Martienssen, R. July 1941. "Constructivism", Architecture Record, vol. 26, no. 7: 241-272. Malevich, K. 1924. "Suprematist Manifesto Univos"; translated excerpt from "Die Gegenstandslose Welt", Bauhausbuch 11 (Munich); reprinted in Conrads, U. (ed.), 1970 ed., Programs and Manifestoes of20th-century Architecture. Translated by Humphries, L. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 87-88. Malevich, K 1927; 1968. "Die Gegenstandslose Welt", Bauhausbuch 11 (Munich); translated excerpt published as "Introduction to the Theory of the Additional Element in Painting" in Chipp, H. (ed.), 1968, Theories ofModern Art. Los Angeles: California Press, 337-340. 226 Malevich, K 1927;1968. "Die Gegenstandslose Welt 2", Bauhuasbuch 11 (Munich); translated excerpt published as "Suprematism" in Chipp, H. (ed.), 1968, Theories ofModern Art. Los Arigeles: California Press, 341-346. Metzinger, J. and Gleizes, A. 1912; 1966. Du Cubisme (paris); translated excerpt reprinted as "Cubismll in Fry, E (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson, 105-111. Mondrian, P. 1919; 1968. "De Nieuwe Beelding in de Schilderkunst", De Stijl, vol. 3, no. 1; translation published as IINatural Reality and Abstract Reality" in Chipp, H. (ed.), 1968, Theories ofModern Art. Los Angeles: California Press, 321-325. Mondrian, P. 1937; 1968. IIFigurative Art and Nonfigurative Art", Circle; reprinted as "Plastic Art and Pure Plastic Art" in Chipp, H., 1968, Theories in Modern Art. Los Angeles: California Press, 358-362. Moszynska, A. 1990. Abstract Art. London: Thames & Hudson. Murray, I. Z. 1997. "The Burden of Cubism: The French Imprint on Czech Architecture, 1910-1914" in Blau, E. and Troy~ N. (eds.), Architecture and Cubism. Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 41-58. Naegele, D. 1995. "Photographic Illusionism and the 'New World of Space'" in Bosson, v., Von Moos, S., Naegele, D. et al., Le Corbusier, Painter and Architect. Denmark: Linde-Tryk, 118-158. Nel, P. (ed.) 1990. JH Pierneef-His Life and Work. Cape Town: Perskor. Norberg-Schultz, C. 1975. Meaning in Western Architecture. London: Studio Vista. Norris and Benjamin. 1988. What Is Deconstruction? London: Academy Editions. Nuttgens, P. 1980. The World's Great Architecture - From the Pyramids to the Centre Pompidou. London: Hamlyn. Ozenfant, A. 1925; 1966. "La Peinture Moderne" (paris); translation published as "Towards the Crystal" in Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson, 171-172. Ozenfant, A. 1931; 1952. Foundations ofModern Art. New York, Dover. Ozenfant, A. 1968; 1973. Ozenfant. New York: M. Knoedler. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Padovan, R. Dec. 1987. "The Pavilion and the Court - Cultural and SpatialProblems ofDe Stijl Architecture", Architectural Record: 359-368. Palladio, A. 1738 unabridged; 1965. The Four Books ofArchitecture. Translated by Ware, 1. New York: Dover. Papadakis, A. (ed). 1988. Deconstruction in Architecture. London: Academy Editions. Papadakis, A. (ed). 1989. Deconstruction 2. London: Academy Editions. Papadakis, A. (ed). 1989. Deconstruction Omnibus Volume. London: Academy Editions. Papadakis, A. (ed). 1990. The New Modern Aesthetic. London: Academy Editions. Papadakis, A. (ed). 1992. Modern Pluralism -Just Exactly What is Going On? London: Academy Editions. Penrose, R 1958. Picasso: His Life and Work. New York: Harper. Pevsner, N. 1936; 1960. Pioneers ofthe Modern Movement [Modern Design] from William Morris to WaIter Gropius. Eng.: Penguin. Pevsner, N. 1942. Outline to European Architecture. London: Pelican. Picasso, P. May 1923; 1966. "Picasso Speaks", The Arts; reprinted as "Statement to Marius de Zayas" in Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson, 165. Placzek, A. (ed.) 1982 ed. Macmillan Encyclopedia ofArchitects. 4 Vols. London: Collier Macmillan. Plato. 1971 ed. Timaes and Critias. Translated by Lee, H. Eng., Middlesex: Penguin. 227 Plato. 1966 ed. The Last Days ofSocrates: Euthyphro, The Apology, Ctrito and Phaedo. Baltimore: Penguin. Plattus, A. 1987. "Le Corbusier: A Dialectical Itinery" in Gans, The Le Corbusier Guide. New Jersey: Princeton Univ. Press, 9-23. Poliansky, A. 1987. "Introduction", AD - Uses of Tradition in Russian and Soviet Architecture, vol. 57, no. 7/8: 6. Porzio and Valsecchi. (eds). 1974. Understanding Picasso. New York: Newsweek Books. Puy, M. July 1911; 1966. "Les Independants'" Les Marges (Paris); translation published as "The Salon des Indepedants" in Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson, 65. Radice, B. 1965; 1971. Who's Who in the Ancient World. London: Penguin. Rayna!, M. 1912; 1966. "Conception et Vision";'trans. published as "Conception and Vision" in Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & London, 96. Reichlin, B. 1997. "Jeanneret-Le Corbusier, Painter-Architect" in Blau, E. and Troy, N. (eds.), Architecture and Cubism. Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 195-218. Richards, J. 1981. The National Trust Book ofEnglish Architecture. London: Club Book Ass. Robertson, M. 1965. "The Visual Arts of the Greeks" in Lloyd-Jones, H. (ed.), The Greek World. Enland: Penguin, 168-228. Robson, I. (ed.). 1992. Kandinsky - Watercolours and Drawings. Munich: Prestel-Verlag. Rowe, C. 1947; 1975. "The Mathematics of an Ideal Villa: Palladio and Le Corbusier Compared"; reprinted in Serenyi, P. (ed.), 1966, Le Corbusier in Perspective. London: Thames & Hudson, 46-55. Rowe, C. and Slutzky, R 1963. "Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal", Perspecta, no. 8: 45-54. Rowe, C. and Slutzky, R 1971. "Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal Part IT", Perspecta, no. 13/14 : 287-301. Russell, J. 1991. The Meanings ofModem Art. London: Thames & Hudson. Salmon, A. 1912; 1966. "La Jeune Peinture Fran<;aise"; translation published as "Anecdotal History of Cubism" in Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson, 81-90. Scharf, A. 1966; 1991 ed. "Constructivism"; reprinted in Stangos, N. (ed.), 1991 ed. Concepts of Modern Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 160-168. Scharf, A. 1966; 1991 ed. "Suprematism"; reprinted in Stangos, N. (ed.), 1991 ed., Concepts of Modern Art, London: Thames & Hudson, 138-140. Schumacher, T. Jan. 1987. "Deep Space", Architectural Review, no. 79, vol. clxxxi: 37-42. Serenyi, P. 1965; 1975. "Le Corbusier's Changing Attitude Toward Form"; reprinted in Serenyi, P. (ed.), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 68-73. Serenyi, P. (ed.). 1975. Le Corbusier in Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Sbvidkovsky, O. 1987. "Tradition and Modernity - Whither Soviet Architecture Today?", AD- Uses ofTradition in Russian and Soviet Architecture, vol. 57, no. 7/8-: 7-8. Slutzky, R 1990. "Aqueous Humor", Oppositions, no. 19/20: 29-37. Smith, P. 1995. "Impressionism - Beneath the Surface". London: Orion Publishing Group. Smith, R 198D; 1991 ed. "Conceptual Art"; reprinted in Stangos., N. (ed.), 1991 ed., Concepts of Modem Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 256-273. Smithsons, A. andP. 1981. The Heroic Period of the Modem Movement. London: Thames & Hudson. Spate, V. 1980; 1991 ed. "Orphism"; reprinted in Stangos, N. (ed.), 1991 ed., Concepts ofModern Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 85-96. Stangos, N. (ed.). 1974; 1991 ed. Concepts ofModem Art. London: Thames & Hudson. 228 Stirling, J. 1953; 1975. "Garches to Jaoul: Le Corbusier's Domestic Architecture in 1929 and 1953"; reprinted in Serenyi (ed.), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 64-67. Summerson, J. "Architecture, Painting and Le Corbusier", Heavenly Mansions and Other Essays. New York: Norton & Co., 177-194. Sutton, K. 1966. Picasso. London: Spring Art Books. Thilly, F. 1993. A History ofPhilosophy. Allahabad: Central Publishing House. Tiege, K. 1929; 1975. "The Mundaneum"; reprinted in Serenyi, P. (ed.), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 40-43. Thomas, D. 1981. Picasso and His Art. Dlinois: Book Value lntl. Turner, P. 1971. "The Education ofLe Corbusier - A Study of the Development ofLe Corbusier's Thoughts, 1900-29". Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, Dept ofFine Arts, Harvard Univ. Turner, P. 1971; 1975. "Beginnings ofLe Corbusier's Education, 1902-07"; reprinted in Serenyi, P. (ed.), Le Corbusier in Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 18-25. Van Doesburg, T., Van't Hoff, R, Huszar, V., et aL, Nov. 1918, "'De Stijl': Manifesto l",De Stijl, vol. 2, no. 1; reprinted in Conrads, U. (ed.), 1970 ed., Programs and Manifestoes of 20th-century Architecture. Translated by Humphries, L. Cambridge, Mass.: MlT Press, 39-40. Van Doesburg, T. 1924; 1970 ed. "Towards a Plastic Architecture", De Stijl, vol. 12, no. 617; reprinted in Conrads, U. (ed.), 1970 ed., Programs and Manifestoes of20th-century Architecture. Translated by Humphries, L. Cambridge, Mass.: MlT Press, 78-80. Van Doesburg, T., Van Eesteren, c., and Rietveld, G. 1923, "'De Stijl': Manifesto V: - 0 + = R4 Towards Collective Building [Construction]", De Stijl [no no.]; reprinted in Conrads, U. (ed.), Programs andManifestoes of20th-century Architecture. Translated by Humphries, L. Cambridge, Mass.: MlT Press, 66-67. Varnedoe, K. 1990. A Fine Disregard - What Makes Modern Art Modern. London: Thames & Hudson. Vitruvius, P. 1914 ed; 1960. The Ten Books on Architecture. Translation by Morgan, M. New York:: Dover. Von Moos, S. 1968; 1975. "Origins, Youth, Travels"; reprinted in Serenyi, ed., 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 13-17. Von Moos, S. 1979. Le Corbusier, Elements ofa Synthesis. Cambridge, Mass: MlT Press. Von Moos, S. 1995. "Charles Edouard Jeanneret and the Visual Arts" in Bosson, v., Von Moos, S., Naegele, D., et al., Le Corbusier, Painter and Architect. Denmark: Linde Tryk, 59-82. Von Vegesack, A. (ed.) 1992. Czech Cubism; Architecture, Furniture and Decorative Arts 1910-1925. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. -----------------------~----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wallace, R 1971. The World ofVan Gogh: 1853-1890. The Netherlands: Time-Life. Warnecke, C-P. 1991. De StijI1917-1931. Cologne: Benedikt Tashen. Watkin, D. 1977. Morality in Architecture. Eng.: Oxford Univ. Press. Werth, L. June 1910; 1966. "Exposition Picasso", La Phalange; translation published as "Picasso", in Fry, E. (ed.), 1966, Cubism. London: Thames & Hudson, 50. Weston, R 1966. Modernism, London: Phaidon. Wilhide, E. 1994. William Morris - Decor and Design. London: Pavilion. Wittkower, R 1962. Architecural Principle in the Age ofHumanism. London: Alec Tiranti. Wittkower, R 1963; 1975. "Le Corbusier's Modulor"; reprinted in Serenyi, P. (ed.), 1975, Le Corbusier in Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall: 80-85. 229 Welsch, R "De Stijl: A Reintroduction". 1982; 1988, in Friedman, M. (ed.) De Stijl: 1917-1931 Visions ofUtopia. (Oxford: Phiadon), 17-31. Whitford, F. 1984; 1991. Bauhaus. London: Thames & Hudson. Wright, F. 1992. Frank Lloyd Wright Collected Writings. Pfeiffer, B (ed.). New York: Rizzoli. Zevi, B. 1957. Architecture as Space: How to Look at Architecture. Translation by Gendel, M. New York: Horizon Press. Zevi, B. 1978. The Modern Language ofArchitecture. Seattle: Univ. of Washington Press. Zhadova, L. (ed.). 1984; 1988. Tatlin. Trans. Filotas, P., Julian, M., Lockwood, E., et al. London: Thames & Hudson.