Synchromism paintings feature harmoniously balanced colors and a feeling of movement. It is thought that synchromist paintings evoke similar feelings and sensations as music. This is a basic tenet of the synchromism art movement. As such, these paintings make wonderfully pleasing additions to any modern art collection.

Founded in 1912 by Morgan Russell and Stanton MacDonald-Wright, synchromism was an art movement based no the thought that sound and color are phenomena that are alike in the way that the person experiences and perceives them. Movement in addition to establishment of color into ‘color scales’ are the ways synchromism pieces correlate to musical art forms.

A fundamental tenet of synchromism is that color can be arranged or orchestrated in comparable way that notes of a symphony are arranged by composers. This harmonious arrangement of colors and shapes produces experiential results much in-line with that of hearing well balanced orchestral compositions.

Artists of the synchromism art movement thought that by painting in color scales could evoke sensations that were very musical in nature. Typically, synchromism pieces feature a powerful rhythmic form or forms that then advance toward complexity in form and hue, moving in a certain direction.

In a few cases, such explosion of color using color scales pours out in a radial pattern. It is most frequent for synchromism art works to have some kind of central vortex that bursts outward with color, into complex color harmonies.

The first painting to be dubbed a synchromism work, was Morgan Russell’s ‘Synchromy in Green’ which was exhibited in Paris at the Paris Salon des Independants throughout the year 1913. That same year, the first exhibition featuring primarily synchromist works by MacDonald-Wright and Russell was held in Munich, Germany. Following the synchromist exhibition in Munich, there were exhibits in both Paris and New York.

These first synchromist pieces were some of the first non-objective abstract paintings located in American art. These later became better known under the label of ‘avante-garde’. In this fashion, synchromism was the first American avant garde art movement that gained attention internationally.

Synchromism has been compared and contrasted to Orphism. Orphism denotes paintings that relate to the Greek god Orpheus, the symbol of song, the arts and the lyre. Though Orphism is rooted in cubism, this movement moved toward a lyrical abstraction that was more pure, in the sense that this form of painting was about synthesizing a sensation of bright colors.

Though there is little doubt that Orphism was an influence to later Synchromism, Synchromists would reason that it is a completely unique art form. As Stanton MacDonald-Wright said, “synchromism hasn’t anything to do with orphism and anyone who has read the first catalogue of synchromism; would notice that we poked fun at orphism.”

A number of other American painters have been known to try out synchromism. Whether synchromism was a branch of orphism or its own unique art form, there is little doubt that the harmonious use of color and movement based composition inspired many artists and art forms. Among these artists were Andrew Dasburg, Thomas Hart Benton and Patrick Henry Bruce.

Though almost all of Thomas Hart Benton’s works centered on regionalism and murals, there was also a powerful flair of synchromism. Benton’s interest and incorporation of synchromism was due mainly from having studied with synchromism artists like Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Diego Rivera.

Keith has been writing articles online for nearly 4 years now. Not only does this author specialize in antiques you can also check out his latest video on [2] collectible new york. Information is not hard to find for [3] vintage new york if you look hard enough. Keith’s video has lots of information on [4] art deco new york and is available for any questions you may have. You can find us at

New York Antiques
515 West 35th Street
New York
NY
10001
(212) 913-9551?
(877) 991-1616?
http://www.newyorkantique.net