Cercle et Carré (Circle and Square) was a group of abstract artists in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, founded 1929 by
Joaquín Torres García
Joaquín or Joaquin is a male given name, the Spanish version of Joachim.
Given name
* Joaquín (footballer, born 1956), Spanish football midfielder
* Joaquín (footballer, born 1981), Spanish football winger
* Joaquín (footballer, born 19 ...
and
Michel Seuphor
Fernand Berckelaers (10 March 1901, in Borgerhout – 12 February 1999, in Paris), pseudonym Michel Seuphor ( anagram of Orpheus), was a Belgian painter.
Seuphor established a literary magazine, ''Het Overzicht'', in Antwerp in 1921. He moved in ...
. The group published a journal with the same name. In 1930 they organised an exhibition in Paris showing 130 abstract works by various artists. "Notre programme fût "Construction", fusse figuratif ou non-figuratif" ( Our formula was "Construccion" whether it was figurative or non-figurative). When the
Abstraction-Création
Abstraction-Création was a loose association of artists formed in Paris in 1931 to counteract the influence of the Surrealist group led by André Breton.
Founders Theo van Doesburg, Auguste Herbin, Jean Hélion and Georges Vantongerloo started th ...
was founded in 1931 it absorbed the group.
From 1936 Joaquín Torres García continued publication of the journal from
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
in Spanish and French with the title ''Círculo y Cuadrado'' "La seconde epoque de "Cercle et Carre" (Circle and Square, the second period) with the same logo. From abroad artists sent letters and articles to be published:
Jean Hélion
Jean Hélion (April 21, 1904October 27, 1987) was a French painter whose abstract work of the 1930s established him as a leading modernist. His midcareer rejection of abstraction was followed by nearly five decades as a figurative painter. He w ...
,
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...
,
Umberto Boccioni
Umberto Boccioni (, ; 19 October 1882 – 17 August 1916) was an influential Italian painter and sculptor. He helped shape the revolutionary aesthetic of the Futurism movement as one of its principal figures. Despite his short life, his approach ...
, etc.
1930 Exhibition
April 1930 the group opened an exhibition in ''Galerie 23'' at
Rue La Boétie
The rue La Boétie is a street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, running from rue d'Astorg to avenue des Champs-Élysées. It is named in honour of Étienne de La Boétie (1530–1563), friend of moralist Michel de Montaigne.
History
From 1640 ...
with works by
Hans Arp
Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist.
Early life
Arp was born in Straßburg (now Stras ...
,
Willi Baumeister
Willi Baumeister (22 January 1889 – 31 August 1955) was a German painter, scenic designer, art professor, and typographer. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics.
Life
Born ...
Marcelle Cahn
Marcelle Cahn (March 1, 1895 - September 20, 1981) was a French painter and one of the members of Abstraction-Création. She was born in a Jewish family of Strasbourg, AlsaceFrancisca Clausen, Jaime A. Colson,
Germán Cueto
Germán Cueto (February 8 or 9, 1883, Mexico City – February 14, 1975) was a List of Mexican artists, Mexican artist. He was part of the initial wave of artistic activity following the Mexican Revolution. However, his stay in Europe from 1927 ...
Serge Charchoune
Serge Charchoune or Sergey Sharshun (russian: Сергей Иванович Шаршун) was a Russian painter and the first Russian Dada poet. Born August 4, 1888, in Buguruslan, Russia, Charchoune lived most of his life in France where he di ...
,
Pierre Daura
Pierre Daura (in Catalan language, Catalan: Pere Francesc Daura i Garcia February 21, 1896 – January 1, 1976) was a Catalan artist.
He was born on Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, a few days before his parents returned to their home in Barcelon ...
Jean Gorin
Albert Jean Gorin (2 December 1899 – 29 March 1981) was a French neoplastic painter and constructive sculptor.
He was a disciple of Piet Mondrian, and remained true to the concept of rigid geometricism and use of primary colors, but pushed th ...
Huib Hoste
Hubrecht (Huib) Hoste (6 February 1881 – 18 August 1957) was a Belgian architect, designer and urban planner. He is considered the pioneer of modern architecture in Belgium.
Life
Huib Hoste was born in Bruges on 6 February 1881. His birth w ...
, Vilmoz Huszar, Vera Idelson,
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...
, Luc Lafnet,
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
,
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...
, Oscar Luethy,
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...
, Stefan Moszczynski, Erik Olson,
Amédée Ozenfant
Amédée Ozenfant (15 April 1886 – 4 May 1966) was a French cubist painter and writer. Together with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) he founded the Purist movement.
Education
Ozenfant was born into a bourgeois f ...
,
Antoine Pevsner
Antoine Pevsner (12 April 1962) was a Russian-born sculptor and the older brother of Alexii Pevsner and Naum Gabo. Both Antoine and Naum are considered pioneers of twentieth-century sculpture.
Biography
Pevsner was born as Natan Borisovich P ...
Luigi Russolo
Luigi Carlo Filippo Russolo (30 April 1885 – 4 February 1947) was an Italian Futurist painter, composer, builder of experimental musical instruments, and the author of the manifesto ''The Art of Noises'' (1913). He is often regarded as one of ...
, Alberto Sartoris,
Kurt Schwitters
Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany.
Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, pain ...
, Henri Stazewski, Hechama Szmuszkowicz,
Joseph Stella
Joseph Stella (born Giuseppe Michele Stella, June 13, 1877 – November 5, 1946) was an Italian-born American Futurist painter best known for his depictions of industrial America, especially his images of the Brooklyn Bridge. He is also as ...
, Hans Suschny,
Sophie Taeuber-Arp
Sophie Henriette Gertrud Taeuber-Arp (; 19 January 1889 – 13 January 1943) was a Swiss artist, painter, sculptor, textile designer, furniture and interior designer, architect, and dancer.
Born in 1889 in Davos, and raised in Trogen, Switzerlan ...
,
Joaquín Torres-García
Joaquín Torres García (28 July 1874 – 8 August 1949) was a Uruguayan-Spanish artist who was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. Torres-García emigrated to Catalunya, Spain as an adolescent, where he began his career as an artist in 1891. For ...
Otto van Rees (artist)
Otto van Rees (April 20, 1884 – May 19, 1957) artist, Dutch citizen, born in Freiburg-im-Breisgau, Germany, died in Utrecht, Holland, mainly living in France and Switzerland during his career as an artist.
Biography Early career
Son of a fami ...
,
Georges Vantongerloo
Georges Vantongerloo (24 November 1886, Antwerp – 5 October 1965, Paris) was a Belgian abstract sculptor and painter and founding member of the De Stijl group.
Life
From 1905 to 1909 Vantongerloo studied Fine Art at the Fine Art Academies in A ...
, Hans Welti, H.N.Werkman, Wanda Wolska.Catalogue de la exposition organisee par le groupe Cercle et Carre, Paris 18 Avril au 1 Mai, 1930
List of issues
''Cercle et Carré''
Published in Paris, 193 Círculo y Cuadrado accessdate=19 Mar 2012
* No. 1 – 15 March 1930
* No. 2 – 15 April 1930
* No. 3 – June 1930
''Círculo y Cuadrado''
Published in Montevideo, 1936-194 Círculo y Cuadrado accessdate=20 Mar 2012 List of Montevideo issues at Publicaciones Periódicas del Uruguay (issues available as PDF's)
* No. 1 – May 1936
* No. 2 – August 1936
* No. 3 – February 1937
* No. 4 – May 1937
* No. 5 – September 1937
* No. 6 – March 1938
* No. 7 – September 1938
* No. 8, 9 & 10 – September 1943