This is an incomplete list of works by the French modern artist Jean Metzinger (June 24, 1883 – November 3, 1956). He is admired as a painter, theorist, writer, critic, and poet. Between 1902 and 1907, Metzinger worked in a combination of Neo-Impressionist, Divisionist and Fauvist styles. A Cézannian component in his work during this phase produced some of the earliest proto-Cubist works.
In the words of S.E. Johnson, an in-depth analysis of Metzinger's Pre-Cubist period—his first artistic peak—"can only class that painter, in spite of his youth, as being already one of the leading artistic personalities in that period directly preceding Cubism. [...] In an attempt to understand the importance of Jean Metzinger in Modern Art, we could limit ourselves to three considerations. Firstly, there is the often overlooked importance of Metzinger's Divisionist Period of 1900–1908. Secondly, there is the role of Metzinger in the founding of the Cubist School. Thirdly, there is the consideration of Metzinger's whole Cubist Period from 1909 to 1930. In taking into account these various factors, we can understand why Metzinger must be included among that small group of artists who have taken a part in the shaping of Art History in the first half of the Twentieth Century."[1]
From 1908, Metzinger experimented with the faceting of form, a style that would soon become known as Cubism. His involvement in Cubism saw him both as an influential artist and principal theorist of the movement.[2][3][4]
Metzinger, a sensitive and intelligent theoretician of Cubism, sought to communicate the principles of this movement through his paintings as well as his writings.[5]
Many exhibitions document the painter's national and international success.[6] His works can be found in private and public collections and institutions around the world.
The artist died in Paris on November 3, 1956.
Paintings
Published writings
Jean Metzinger was a highly prolific painter. He was also a published writer and theorist, not only on the topic of Cubism (for which he was the first with Note sur la peinture, 1910), but on the arts in general, on other artists, such as Henri Le Fauconnier, Robert Delaunay, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Albert Gleizes and Alexandre Mercereau. His writings are infused with references to science, mathematics, philosophy, politics, and culture. He was also a published poet. He left behind a number of personal letters and journal entries. The following incomplete list contains some of his important published works.
Note sur la peinture, Pan (Paris), October–November 1910
Cubisme et tradition, Paris Journal, 16 August 1911
Alexandre Mercereau, Vers et prose 27 (October–November 1911): 122-129
Du "Cubisme", written with Albert Gleizes, Edition Figuière, Paris, 1912 (First English edition: Cubism, Unwin, London, 1913)
Art et esthétique, Lettres Parisiennes, suppl. 9 (April 1920): 6-7
Réponse à notre enquête - Où va la peinture moderne?, written with Fernand Léger, Bulletin de l'Effort moderne, February 1924, 5-6
L'Evolution du coloris, Bulletin de l'Effort moderne, Paris, 1925
Enquête du bulletin, Bulletin de l'Effort moderne, October 1925, 14-15
Metzinger, Chabaud, Chagall, Gruber et André Mouchard répondent à l'enquête des Beaux-Arts sur le métric, Beaux-Arts, 2 October 1936, 1
Un souper chez G. Apollinaire, Apollinaire, Paris, 1946
Ecluses, Preface par Henri Charpentier, Paris: G.L. Arlaud, 1947
1912-1946, Afterword to reprint of Du "Cubisme" by A. Gleizes and J. Metzinger, pp. 75–79, Paris, Compagnie française des Arts Graphiques, 1947
Le Cubisme apporta à Gleizes le moyen d'écrire l'espace, Arts spectacles, no. 418, 3–9, July 1953
Structures de peinture, Structure de l'esprit, Hommage à Albert Gleizes, with essays, statements and fragments of works by Gleizes, Metzinger, André Beaudin, Gino Severini, et al., Lyons, Atelier de la Rose, 1954
Suzanne Phocas, Paris, Galerie de l'Institut, February 1955
Le Cubisme était né, Souvenirs, Chambéry, Editions Présence, 1972
Notes and references
^S. E. Johnson, 1964, Metzinger, Pre-Cubist and Cubist Works, 1900-1930, International Galleries, Chicago
^Joann Moser, Jean Metzinger in Retrospect, Pre-Cubist works, 1904–1909, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Trust, University of Washington Press, 1985, pp. 34–42
^Daniel Robbins, Jean Metzinger: At the Center of Cubism, 1985, Jean Metzinger in Retrospect, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Trust, University of Washington Press, pp. 9–23
^Many of the dates are tentative, based on dates the works were published, exhibition dates and stylistic similarities to dated works.
^Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Lucy Flint-Gohlke, Thomas M. Messer, Handbook, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Abrams, 1983
^Art Directory
^Gelett Burgess, Wild Men of Paris, The Architectural Record, May 1910, documents p. 3
^Anne Grace, Jean Metzinger : Nu debout, Revue M, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Fall 2020, p. 17.
^"The Three Trees". exchange.umma.umich.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jean Metzinger.
