1914-1918

• Vorticism was a short-lived modernist movement in British art and poetry of the early 20th century announced in the first issue of BLAST.

• Founded by Wyndham Lewis.

• It was a rejection of landscape and nudes in favor of a geometric style tending towards abstraction.

• Vorticism can be described as visual energy. It’s a moment of change.

• Despite the fact that vorticism is short lived, its impact was great enough to be felt for many years.

“The vortex is the point of maximum energy.”

- Ezra Pound

Wyndham Lewis 1882 -1957

Cover of BLAST, 1915

• Wyndham was an English painter and author.

• He was the co-founder of vorticism.

• He edited the literary magazine of the Vorticists, BLAST. 

• He developed the style of geometric abstraction.

Coterie (magazine), 1919

Wyndham Lewis

David Bomberg, The Mud bath, 1914, Tate

• He was an English painter.

•Bomberg influenced cubism and futurism.

•He used limited number of striking colors, turning humans into simple shapes.

•His work was based on dynamic angular representations of the human form.

David Bomberg 1890 - 1957

• He was an American-born artist noted for his avant garde graphic design and poster art, especially in Britain.

•The posters span many styles: many show abstract influences, including futurism, cubism, and vorticism.

Edward McKnight Kauffer, Daily Herald advertisement, 1919 (considered the first

cubist-inspired subway advertisement)

E McKnight Kauffer1890 - 1954