By Namrata Jaiswal

Guided by Ms Monika Malik

INTRODUCTION

Orphism also known as Simultaneism or Orphic-Cubism, this art movement was led by a couple, Robert and Sonia Delaunay in Paris. Orphism was an early 20^th century movement which did not last for a long time but managed to leave an influential mark. This movement was named in 1912 by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire which means light meeting shapes and the rhythm.

Orphism was inspired by cubism and colour theory combined. Although it was inspired by cubism in a lot of ways, it did not follow the same monochrome colour pallet. The artists used bright colours which helped the artists convey rhythm and movement through their artwork. Orphism was a great combination of art and music. Orphism was one such movement which took its inspiration from music and artists of orphism used to listen to music before creating their art pieces.

INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS

Robert Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay, Franz Marc and Frantisek Kupka were some of the famous and most influential artist during orphism. 

All artists of this time portrayed art & music, art & design, art & literature in their paintings through usage of geometric shapes and bright colours which gets into the viewers mind.

Let’s have a look at some famous artworks-

ORPHISM AND FASHION

Although Orphism was a very small art movement, it has influenced fashion immensely. Many designers still get inspiration from this art movement as it was a great combination of art with music design and literature. The originator of this movement Sonia Delaunay was also a great illustrator, have a look- 

The whole concept of Orphism was to charm the senses with its contrasting colours mostly arranged in the form of circular discs . Orphism brought right amount of pop yet harmony on runway. It is one those art movement in which exploration with it’s art is endless. Designer like Junya Watanable debuted his “patchwork madness” as a tribute to Sonia Delaunay. Sonia Delauny and her husband Robert Delauny were a huge inspiration then and are a huge inspiration now. Earlier they use to open the doors of their home for the artists and displayed their work, mostly Sonia’s clothing designs to inspire them. Well they haven’t opened the doors of their home for us but they have surely opened the doors of inspiration for every designer.

ORPHISM INSPIRED FASHION

Here are some runway looks-

Hope the mystery of orphism was an interesting read.

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Written By – Annu Taneja

Guided By – Ms Monika Malik

“Cubism is like standing at a certain point on a mountain and looking around. If you go higher, things will look different; if you go lower, again they will look different.” –Jacques Lipchitz

INTRODUCTION

Cubism was one of the most influential art movement of the early 20^th century, which took place in France [Paris]. The concept of cubism soon became popular across Europe and influenced several styles of modern art. It is believed that almost all art movements and this one movement in particular was a strong response to the changing world, Cubism is considered as an Avant-Garde art movement with key features of geometric angles, lines, shapes, small brushstrokes, three dimensional surfaces, flattened perspective, abstract art and most importantly the way of viewing the art from shifting positions. Cubism was more like an intellectual art exercise for cubists as they always focused on creating intellectual art which is far away from reality. Cubism opened infinite possibilities for the treatment of visual reality in art and was the starting point for many later abstract styles.

ORIGIN OF CUBISM

It was established by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who were later joined by many talented artists including Juan Gris, and Fernand Leger. These cubists strongly believed that art should not be a copy of nature. They took a lot of inspiration from Paul Cezanne’s artwork, African tribal masks and American art.

FAMOUS ARTISTS

Pablo Picasso and George Braque were the pioneers of Cubism. Their favourite motifs were musical instruments, bottles, pitchers, glasses, newspapers, and the human face & figure in distorted forms.

PABLO PICASSO AND GEORGES BRAQUE.

Picasso and Braque shared the same perspective towards art. They often met to discuss their art progress with each other and collaborated many times. Their artwork was so similar and closely inspired that there was a time when it became difficult for the critics to differentiate between the two artists. The colour palette used by them consisted mostly of neutral shades initially but later also included bright colours in combination with neutrals to make sure that people were able to interpret the art. One common thing which is noticeable in their artworks is use of hollow objects. They used them as props to display hollowness such as guitar, a pot, a vase etc.

Some of the famous artwork of Cubism –

PHASE / STYLE OF CUBISM

Cubism had two waves/phase. The first wave was known as Analytic Cubism (1907-12). The artworks portrayed geometric shapes and three dimensional perspective. Neutral colour palette consisting of beige & browns with greys were used to create intellectual artwork.

The second phase was known as Synthetic phase, it portrayed simpler forms which were more colourful and decorative in style. Collage came into the existence along with new materials such as newspaper clippings, tobacco wrappers and abstract.

INFLUENCE ON FASHION

Cubism has been one of the most influential art movement which had a huge impact on fashion and has always appeared on runway every now and then. The first few designers who were immensely influenced during cubism were Coco Chanel, Paul Poiret and Madeline Vionnets.

Fashion started to change in 1920’s because of many aspects and characteristics which can still be witnessed on the runways. The idea behind Cubism was to portray ordinary objects in an abstract geometric form, since then the cubist motifs has marked its place of signature style in fashion.

Currently world leaders of fashion design like Yves Saint Laurent, Prada, Givenchy, Hermes and Celine have used cubism as an inspiration for their various collections. The fashion industry calls it “the cubism madness”. Structures, layering, geometric shapes, colour blocking and clean-cut lines are the main visual impacts inspired from the cubism which manages to make its way in everyone’s wardrobe. In today’s world, cubism through fashion represents the freedom of women and the abolishment of unrealistic proportions.

Let’s have a look at some cubism inspired runway looks –

Cubism inspired interior:

Basically,

“Cubism is not a reality you can take in your hand. It’s more like a perfume, in front of you, behind you, to the sides, the scent is everywhere but you don’t quite know where it comes from.” – Pablo Picasso

It’s all about perspective my friend!!

I hope it was an insightful read……!!

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Until then stay awesome…….!!!!

Written By Nikita Rajani

Guided by Ms Monika Malik

INTRODUCTION

Surrealism is an art movement of 20^th century which took its inspiration from another Avant Garde movement Dadaism. It started in 1920’s in France, Paris and lasted till 1950’s. Surrealism is derived from the word surreal which means very strange and unusual. The artists belonging to this movement were called “SURREALIST”.

The goal of surrealists was to liberate thoughts and human experiences through pushing boundaries of rationalism. This movement challenged the rational order of society through unleashing the mind of masses. A number of techniques were derived by surrealist painters to help capture the thoughts of the unconscious mind.

HIGHLIGHTS OF SURREALISM

The main characteristic of Surrealism is dream-like scene and symbolic images. Irrelevant objects put together to create contrasting effect of uncommon images. Surrealists used their sub-conscious mind to create strange, uncommon & unusual art which represented the dreams and fantasies in the name of expression of reality. The colour pallet was either saturated or monochromatic, both conveying dream state of human mind.

FAMOUS ARTISTS OF SURREALISM

The art work of surrealism features an element of surprise in its visual art work in combination with uncommon images. Artists preferred painting illogical scenes with photographic precision.

Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali was a great surrealist who was greatly inspired by living beings. He painted in a hyper-real style in which objects depicted crisp details with three dimensional illusion, creating dream-like quality. Salvador Dali mostly used living elements like eyes, lobsters & human faces in combination with non living objects like watches.

Rene Magritte

Rene Magritte was another great Surrealist. He became well known for creating a number of witty and thought provoking images. He often depicted ordinary objects in unusual manner. In most of his artwork, he depicted seen & unseen images, where some objects are visible and other objects are hidden.

INFLUENCE ON PHOTOGRAPHY

Surrealism had great impact on photography where photographers combined non-traditional photographic techniques with surrealist principles, resulting in creation of images which were maddening and provocative. The signature style of surrealist photography evoked the feeling of a dream like state.

Man Ray was the most influential photographer of that time.

Surrealism inspiring modern photography –

INFLUENCE ON FASHION

It would be unfair to speak of Surrealism without the famous Lobster Dress. Elsa Schiaparelli was the most influential designer of that time. She collaborated with surrealists to create astonishing designer pieces that would shock and amaze. Her most famous collaboration was with her friend and a famous Surrealist Artist “Salvador Dali” which resulted the very famous LOBSTER DRESS.

This is the modern version of Iconic Lobster Dress created by Bertrand Guyon Spring 2017 Couture Collection, almost 80 years later.

The commonly used objects and shapes to depict Surrealism are Lobster, eye, human hand, printed face of Salvador Dali, clocks hung on wall etc. These are easily transposed to printing textile, jewellery, hats etc. giving designers the freedom to create art in the form of fashion.

The artwork of surrealism in its visual form such as paintings, posters and photographs works as an inspiration for a number of designers to push their envelop of creativity. The elements of surrealism are beautifully portrayed through the use of odd materials and one of a kind construction techniques to further induce a playful surprise in their design collection. For example, the work of designer Jean Paul Gaultier for 2006 Fall/Winter Couture collection simply amazed the fraternity with his well translated take on surrealism which evidently showcased in his designs. The point of admiration about surrealist fashion is that it breaks gender boundaries by merging feminine and masculine ideals to create entirely unique result.

Surrealism was one such art movement that had a lasting impact on paintings, sculpture, literature, photography, films and fashion; inspiring subconsciously the dreams of creative minds to create bizarre images. Surrealism never disappointed as a creative artistic principle, bringing outlandish visuals with out of the box experience on table.

By Annu Taneja

Guided By: Ms Monika Malik

Introduction

Art Deco is one of the many Art Movements that emerged in the early 20^th century, lasted from the 1920’s until around 1940’s. It began in France with a group of French designers, decorators and artists at an event called “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes”—the name Art Deco was later originated from this title.

Art Deco celebrated the beauty of technology, urbanization and was considered a very “modern” movement. You will see art mixed with technology through references like trains, planes, cars and skyscrapers in the artwork. Bold colours and strong geometric patterns were the trademark of Art Deco.

Basically, the whole idea of Art Deco movement was to move towards the future and celebrate modern advancement. After World War 1 and great depression, the spirit that artists wanted to depict was OPTIMISM.

The Nature And Style Of Art Deco Movement

The main characteristics of Art Deco included passion portrayed through geometry, abstract and many more forms. The nature of this style was founded on the avant-garde traditions.

Art deco was inspired by industrialization and technical progress. Although, artist always focused on looking towards the future, there were many motifs inspired by the cultures of different countries, especially Egypt.

Motifs are sleek, stylized often characterized by geometric ornamentation and detail work which brings glamour, luxury and order with symmetrical designs in exuberant shapes.

Famous Artists

Tamara De Lempicka

“My goal is never to copy, but to create a new style, clear luminous colours and feel the elegance of the models,”- Tamara De Lempicka.

She was one of the most influential artist during the Art Deco movement. Her art works mainly consisted of portraits of women. She preferred women of her Canvas involved in modern stuff like driving a car, posing with sky scrapers at the back and talking on telephone.

Few other artists like Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Josef Hoffmann were also the part of this art movement and are considered inspirations.

ART DECO in Interior & Architecture

Art Deco influenced the field of interior & architecture through decorative arts, paintings and sculptures. It had massive architectural impact in United States, especially the Empire State Building (1929-31) which is an influential masterpiece inspired by Art Deco.

Influence on Fashion

Architecture played a very important part in influencing the fashion. From buildings to the dome of the churches, every detail had a huge impact on the designers.

The colour palette commonly consisted of gold, black, off white and silver. The curved lines, geometric shapes, each and every element of the Art Deco Movement made its mark and inspired everyone immensely.

As Art Deco is an early 20th century movement, it is also known as “THE ROARING TWENTIES” you will see a lot of flappers. Designers like Coco Chanel and Paul Poiret were amongst the most influential fashion designers of this time.

Another Art Deco inspired runway look-

Art deco was an influential movement of 20’s which has stayed relevant to current fashion. It scored such wide popularity because it got acceptance worldwide and it is still loved for its glam factor with free spirited nature.  

I hope reading this blog was a happy experience for you.

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