The Three Plastic Virtues
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The essay "The Three Plastic Virtues" by Guillaume Apollinaire discusses the concept of "plasticity" in art, particularly in relation to Cubism. Apollinaire argued that the "three plastic virtues" of purity, unity, and truth had triumphed over nature in Cubist art. This concept of pure plasticity, focusing on formal elements like color, line, and shape, became a hallmark of Modernist criticism. Plastic art itself is defined as three-dimensional art, such as sculpture, or visual art like painting and film, as opposed to written art like poetry.12
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