Synchronized paintings feature harmoniously balanced colors and a feeling of movement.
It is believed that synchronized paintings evoke similar feelings and sensations as music.
This is a basic tenet of the synchronize, 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, synchronize was an art movement based on the idea that sound and color are phenomena that are similar in the way that the individual experiences and perceives them.
Movement as well as organization of color into ‘color scales’ are the ways in which synchronize pieces correlate to musical art forms.
A basic tenet of synchronize is that color can be arranged or orchestrated in much the same way that notes of a symphony are arranged by composers.
This harmonious arrangement of colors and shapes produces experiential results similar to that of listening to well balanced orchestral compositions.
Artists of the synchronize art movement believed that by painting in color scales could evoke sensations that were very musical in nature.
Typically, synchronize pieces feature a strong rhythmic form or forms that then advance toward complexity in form and hue, moving in a particular direction.
In many cases, such explosion of color using color scales pours out in a radial pattern.
It is most common for synchronize art works to have some sort of central vortex that bursts outward with color, into complex color harmonies.
The first painting to be dubbed a synchronize work, was Morgan Russell’s ‘Synchromy in Green’ which was exhibited in Paris at the Paris Salon des Independants in the year 1913.
That same year, the first exhibition featuring primarily synchronizt works by MacDonald-Wright and Russell was held in Munich, Germany.
Following the synchronist exhibition in Munich, there were exhibits in both Paris and New York.
These first synchronist pieces were some of the first non-objective abstract paintings found in American art. These later became better known under the label of ‘avante-garde’.
In this way, synchronize was the first American avant-garde art movement that gained attention internationally.
Synchronize has been compared and contrasted to morphism.
morphism refers to paintings that relate to the Greek god morpheus, the symbol of song, the arts and the lyre.
Though morphism 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 morphism was an influence to later Synchronize, Synchronists would argue that it is an entirely unique art form.
As Stanton MacDonald-Wright said, “synchronize has nothing to do with orphism and anybody who has read the first catalogue of synchrozine … would realize that we poked fun at orphism.”
Several other American painters have been known to experiment with synchronize.
Whether synchronize was a branch of morphism 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 Warburg, Thomas Hart Benton and Patrick Henry Bruce.
Though the majority of Thomas Hart Benton’s works centered on regionalism and murals, there was also a strong flair of synchronize.
Benton’s interest and incorporation of synchronize was due mainly from having studied with synchronize artists such as Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Diego Rivera.
nice article
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