Ozenfant, Amédée

Ozenfant, Amédée (1886–1966). French painter, writer, and teacher. He was born in St Quentin, where he studied at the municipal drawing school before moving to Paris in 1905 to study architecture and painting. In 1918 he met Le Corbusier, with whom he founded Purism. Until 1926 he painted in the cool style characteristic of Purism, depicting such objects as bottles and glasses in profile. After this his style became somewhat freer and included figure compositions. However, he is much better known as a teacher and writer than for his own artistic work. In 1924 he founded an art school in Paris with Léger, the Académie de l'Art Moderne. From 1935 to 1939 he lived in London, then from 1939 to 1955 in New York, founding schools in both cities (he became an American citizen in 1944 but later reverted to French nationality). His liberal sentiments brought him official disfavour in America in the McCarthy era and he returned to France in 1955, settling in Cannes, where he directed a studio for foreign art students. His most important book was Art (1927), subtitled Bilan des arts modernes: Structure d'un nouvel esprit (‘The Balance Sheet of Modern Arts: The Structure of a New Spirit'). The book was translated into English as Foundations of Modern Art (1931, enlarged edn., 1952). It is a study of the interrelationship of all forms of human creativity, including science and religion, and is one of the most widely read books by any modern artist. His other books were Journey Through Life: Experiences, Doubts, Certainties, Conclusions (1939) and Mémoires, 1886–1962, published posthumously in 1968. He also edited two periodicals, L'Élan (1915–16) and L'Esprit nouveau (1920–5). The great reputation he enjoyed in the interwar period declined sharply afterwards. Indeed in 1973 John Golding wrote that ‘Perhaps no other artistic reputation of comparable stature within the contemporary field has undergone, during the past decades, such an almost total eclipse.’