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Lot Essay
Pierre Guénégan has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work.
As outlined in their seminal work, Après le Cubisme, published in November 1918, Amédée Ozenfant and Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) called for a return to order in painting following the chaotic early years of the First World War.
Wishing to restore painting to a purer, more classical ideal, they rejected what they saw as the distortions of the avant-garde- particularly those of late Cubism- seeking instead to establish a style that was at once both balanced and structured. Thus, between 1918 and 1926, Ozenfant and Jeanneret ushered in a movement called Purism, which- although thoroughly against the excesses of the avant-garde- was itself exceptionally modern.
Like Cubism, Purism delighted in the machine-made; it is for this reason that as in Verres et bouteilles en bleu, mass-produced objects such as bottles and glasses came to dominate Purist compositions. Indeed, in order to underscore the precision and uniformity of the machine age they so revered, both artist's presented objects with smooth, unbroken brushwork, removing, insofar as possible, all traces of their hand. This, alongside a negation of volume suggested by shadow, helped to convey a sense of order, balance, and flatness.
As in the companion piece at the Tate, in Verres et bouteilles en bleu, Ozenfant took great care to balance the structure of his composition. For this reason, the artist divided the picture plane into a cohesive series of overlapping rectangles arranged along a central vertical axis. This, alongside a rhythmic palette of repeated pastel blues and greys- Ozenfant's preferred colours at the time-helped to convey a peaceful sense of harmony.
As outlined in their seminal work, Après le Cubisme, published in November 1918, Amédée Ozenfant and Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) called for a return to order in painting following the chaotic early years of the First World War.
Wishing to restore painting to a purer, more classical ideal, they rejected what they saw as the distortions of the avant-garde- particularly those of late Cubism- seeking instead to establish a style that was at once both balanced and structured. Thus, between 1918 and 1926, Ozenfant and Jeanneret ushered in a movement called Purism, which- although thoroughly against the excesses of the avant-garde- was itself exceptionally modern.
Like Cubism, Purism delighted in the machine-made; it is for this reason that as in Verres et bouteilles en bleu, mass-produced objects such as bottles and glasses came to dominate Purist compositions. Indeed, in order to underscore the precision and uniformity of the machine age they so revered, both artist's presented objects with smooth, unbroken brushwork, removing, insofar as possible, all traces of their hand. This, alongside a negation of volume suggested by shadow, helped to convey a sense of order, balance, and flatness.
As in the companion piece at the Tate, in Verres et bouteilles en bleu, Ozenfant took great care to balance the structure of his composition. For this reason, the artist divided the picture plane into a cohesive series of overlapping rectangles arranged along a central vertical axis. This, alongside a rhythmic palette of repeated pastel blues and greys- Ozenfant's preferred colours at the time-helped to convey a peaceful sense of harmony.