Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Airplane Synchromy

I've often wondered if I have synesthesia , a condition where colors, numbers and emotions are mixed. A number might have a color, a color could have a feeling or a taste or even a sound and vice versa. In my mind numbers have always had a color ascribed to them, three is oh so yellow and five is undeniably red, for instance. Or perhaps I always just wanted to be a synesthete because it sounds kind of neat.

I consider Synchromism to be synesthesia in art form, perhaps the artists had the condition themselves or were just intrigued by the whole thing. This early 1900's art form was built on the idea that color and sound are somehow related and that a painting could be created in the same way that a composer crafts notes into a song.

The founders of this movement, Macdonald-Wright and Russell believed that if they painted in color scales (which they created) that they could evoke in the viewer the same feelings that music stirs in a listener. They also thought these works could even leave the viewer of the art with the sensation that they had actually listened to music.

This form of art, while now largely unknown now, was actually the first American avant garde school of art to gain notoriety. The result of the school are pieces of art that could really only be called lyrical, exploding with colors, perfectly shaded into one and other. The sense I get when I see the works is the feeling of the images bursting from the canvas.

The artists purposefully used "rhythmic" color forms and patterns of advancing and reducing hues. In each painting there appears to be a central vortex and a real harmony of color, which is what brings the explosive, almost noise like quality to the composition.

Why not have Oil Painting Express create a harmonious work of Synchromism for your home? This piece of art with it's interesting philosophy makes a great gift for any music lover and is sure to be a conversation starter during any an awkward moment. I love this work as a gift and personally would buy a favorite CD to give along with the piece for the two masterpieces to be enjoyed together.