Après le Cubisme

work by Le Corbusier and Ozenfant

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June 18, 2026

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Apr\u00e8s le Cubisme was a pivotal work by Le Corbusier and Am\u00e9d\u00e9e Ozenfant, published in 1918. It served as the foundational text for the art movement known as Purism.12

Purism emerged as a reaction against what Ozenfant and Le Corbusier perceived as the decorative excesses of Cubism. They advocated for a return to clear, ordered, and precise forms that reflected the modern machine age. Their aesthetic emphasized rationality, clarity, and precision, aiming for a new classicism inspired by technology. Typical Purist paintings, like Le Corbusier's Still Life (1920), featured simplified, integral forms, a limited palette of neutral colors, and smooth paint application to achieve an objective feel. Although Purism itself did not gain a large following, its machine-inspired aesthetic influenced other artists.12

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Le Corbusier
Education and early years
…published together the Purist manifesto, Après le cubisme (1918; “After Cubism”). In 1920, with the poet Paul Dermée, they founded a polemic avant-garde review, L’Esprit Nouveau. Open to the arts and humanities, with brilliant collaborators, it presented ideas in architecture and city planning already expressed by Adolf Loos and Henri…
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…published together the Purist manifesto, Après le cubisme (1918; “After Cubism”). In 1920, with the poet Paul Dermée, they founded a polemic avant-garde review, L’Esprit Nouveau. Open to the arts and humanities, with brilliant collaborators, it presented ideas in architecture and city planning already expressed by Adolf Loos and Henri…
Read More

Amédée Ozenfant
…formulated and published a book—Après le Cubisme (1918; “After Cubism”)—in which they outlined the aesthetic approach they called Purism. Emphasizing the principles of order, rationality, and precision, the Purist style called for a new Classicism based upon the aesthetic of modern technology. In Ozenfant’s own paintings, he stressed clarity,…
Read More
…formulated and published a book—Après le Cubisme (1918; “After Cubism”)—in which they outlined the aesthetic approach they called Purism. Emphasizing the principles of order, rationality, and precision, the Purist style called for a new Classicism based upon the aesthetic of modern technology. In Ozenfant’s own paintings, he stressed clarity,…
Read More

Purism
…artists began with their book, Après le Cubisme (1918; “After Cubism”), and continued with essays published from 1920 to 1925 in their review, L’Esprit Nouveau. In an essay entitled “Purism,” Ozenfant and Le Corbusier defined painting as “an association of purified, related, and architectured elements.” This concept is reflected in…
Read More
…artists began with their book, Après le Cubisme (1918; “After Cubism”), and continued with essays published from 1920 to 1925 in their review, L’Esprit Nouveau. In an essay entitled “Purism,” Ozenfant and Le Corbusier defined painting as “an association of purified, related, and architectured elements.” This concept is reflected in…
Read More