Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 2: Modern Era (1850–1949)
1918
Edouard Jeanneret [Le Corbusier] and Amédée Ozenfant form Purism
![Edouard Jeanneret [Le Corbusier] and Amédée Ozenfant form Purism](img/edouard-jeanneret-le-corbusier-and-amedee-ozenfant-form-purism.jpg)
The publication of Après le Cubisme (After Cubism) began the Purism movement, proposing “a kind of painting in which objects are represented as powerful basic forms stripped of detail.” Purism relates to electronic and digital generative art due to its embrace of technology and a timeless machine aesthetic.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
Movements
Purism
Filed under
- Ideas
- Cubism, form, machine aesthetic, painting, Purism, technology
- People
- Amédée Ozenfant, Le Corbusier
- Works
- Après le Cubisme
Echoes across time
- 1982 · L’Art et l’ordinateur in Paris
- 1970 · Generación Automática de Formas Plásticas Exhibition at the Centro de Cálculo of the University of Madrid
- 1973 · France Hosts International Computer Art Events
Le Random editorials
- Hans Ulrich Obrist on Exhibitions as Living Organisms, Peter Bauman, September 1, 2025
Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 2—Modern Era with Kate Vass — listen with transcript on Le Random (20 Jul 2023, 58 min). Chapter 2’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify