Le Corbusier

In 1917 – while the First World War was still raging – Le Corbusier chose Paris as the new centre of his life. That is where he met painter Amédée Ozenfant, with whom he would cooperate closely for about eight years and develop the idea of “purism”. At the same time, Le Corbusier decided to work as a professional artist. As early as 1918, he and Ozenfant showed their first works. Together, they published the magazine “L’Esprit Nouveau”. In it, they would record and disseminate their theory of purism.

The painting entitled “The Red Bowl” shows the beginnings of Le Corbusier’s purist style. It depicts an austere, positively sparse collection of objects arranged on a tabletop in a precise order. They are aligned with a clear geometrical grid: the order is dominated by right angles, straight lines and diagonals. A desk pad lies exactly horizontal on the table. On it lies a rolled-up sheet of paper shifted diagonally. A thin pipe nestles up to this sheet. Next to it is a cube which is aligned precisely with the edge of the table. On it rests the bowl which gives the image its title. It has been placed rather daringly at the edge of the cube.

In contrast to later purist works, the objects are shown in a formally reduced way but in all their plasticity. The painting style is precise, giving it an air of the Old Masters. The objects show their volume, the shadows are correct and the differing materiality is visible.

The placement of the bowl, the orientation of the rolled-up sheet of paper and the pipe provide tension without disturbing the harmony and the great serenity of the image. Here’s what Le Corbusier and Ozenfant wrote in 1921:

“[…] in a really permanent sculptural work, the form is the most important element, and everything must be subordinated to it. Everything has to contribute towards establishing the architectural fact. Painting is a matter of architecture, which therefore finds its means in the volume […]”