Still Life Synchromy
Stanton Macdonald-Wright
American, 1890–1973
1913
A 1913 oil still life in which Stanton Macdonald‑Wright translates musical harmony into paint, using layered color and rhythm to create form instead of realistic depiction.
The canvas reads like a rotating burst of rounded shapes and angular planes—jewel‑toned crescents, shadowed arcs, and brisk, visible brushstrokes pulse together so that fruit, vessel, and space almost dissolve into shimmering color chords.
An early example of Synchromism, this painting helped define a uniquely American route to abstraction by making color the primary structural and expressive element—an attempt to make painting operate like music.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
20 x 20" (50.8 x 50.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Given anonymously
Accession
347.1949
Palette
Exhibitions
