Page 51 - Studio International - January 1966

science.' He himself sought to translate new theories he drew the superb Reclining Nude. This at-
of the cosmos and the dynamism inherent in Bergson's tenuated horizontal nude is a great vista in which the
view in his abstract paintings, beginning in 1911. origins of the Mondrian grid are visible, but so are the
Houston has two of the major works of this period, one musical intervals and repetitive curves present in the
Amorpha—Chromatique Chaude, which was exhibited 'orphic' side of cubism.
in the celebrated Salon d'Automne of 1912. His large, The lucid, intellectual, spatial adjustments properly
centrifugally-composed Localisation des Mobiles called cubist are paramount in three outstanding
Graphiques of 1912 is redolent of the cosmic dynamism collages by Juan Gris of 1914, and in several earlier
so widely discussed at the time. paintings by Braque and Picasso. For Picasso, however,
These paintings by Kupka, and Delaunay's initial Eiffel the year 1914 is signalled in the witty Portrait de
Tower studies, and Sonia Delaunay's experiments in Jeaune Fille, which is one of the many works in the
simultanism, led Apollinaire to speak about 'orphic show never exhibited in America before. Here Picasso
painting', and form a cohesive section in the show. is off, as usual, on a new tack, poking liberal fun at
Added to them are several spirited paintings by Natalia his own discoveries in earlier collages (trompe l'oeil
Gontcharova, including the Electric Lights of 1912 in renderings of wallpaper), and shifting around the
which the Russian painter brings disks of high yellow furniture of forms in adventurous lateral movements.
very close to the picture plane and flattens her com- I could go on and on discussing individual paintings,
position totally. but space obviously prohibits a salon-like review. I
Even more startling are Giacomo Balla's experiments should mention the high points of sculpture: Brancusi's
of 1912—the famous dog on a leash, and a total 1908 Kiss, relating to Matisse's 1908 Two Negresses
abstraction which Sweeney rightly relates to current in that both sculptors work with double figures related
essays in so-called optical art absolutely in the rectangular compositions, and drawing
It is terribly tempting to play a game of cross- strength from acquaintance with primitive art. There
Below
Kasimir Malevich references; to inquire about who was in Paris when, are also the celebrated Picasso cubist head, Duchamp
Scissors Grinder 1912 and what came first, particularly in the case of the two Villon's 1914 horse, and Archipenko's remarkably
Oil on canvas
31 3/8 x 31 3/8 in. contributions of Malevich, both wonderfully architected abstract Boxers of the same year.
On loan to The Heroic Years paintings, one clearly indebted to Leger (Morning in For me the most vivid single work was the 1914
from Yale University Art Gallery
the Country After Rain of 1911), and one probably Matisse, Notre Dame. The great adventure into the new
Below right spaces of the century reads with immense clarity in
Pablo Picasso inspired by the futurist exhibition in Paris in February
Dancer 1907-8 1912. His Scissors Grinder of 1912 is a keen, this audacious painting. With a blue ground and a few
Oil on canvas
59 1/4 x 39 1/4 in. beautifully worked-out study in futurist dynamics. black directional lines and one green mass symbolising
On loan to The Heroic Years Mondrian, for instance, clearly made use of his a clump of trees, Matisse ventures into the realms of
from Walter P. Chrysler Jr
New York exposure to Parisian cubist tendencies in 1910 when vastness and abstraction in his unique way. Of all the