Lettrism

Lettrism is a French avant-garde art movement founded in Paris in the mid-1940s by the Romanian artist Isidore Isu. Its basis is writing and symbols, partially borrowed from the ancient Greek alphabet. Modern letters, numbers, algebraic and geometric formulas, copyright signs and symbols, etc. are also used.

Compositions can consist of a single word, symbol, or text, or many small figures covering the entire surface of the canvas. The size and nature of the font is completely different – from almost printed to sharp illegible. Some lettrist artists worked in the collage technique. Some of the works have a certain philosophical and intellectual message, the other part is exclusively abstract and aesthetic objects of art. The main artistic element of lettrism is Hypergraphics or post-writing, covering all means of ideographic, lexical and phonetic meanings.

The technique and artistic principles of letrism have found application in illustration, cinematography, scenography, fashion design, and literature.

A painting in the style of lettrism is a graphic ensemble of signs and symbols, the universal letterism of which is aimed at globalism.

Key Artists: Ben, Joao Vieira, Isidore Isou, Gabriel Pomerand, Roland Sabatier, François Dufresne, Gil Joseph Wolman.

Key works:

Amos. 1953. Isidor Isou.

O Gato. 1967. Joao Vieira.

Paint Rouge. 1987. Ben.