Morgan Russell

Estate of Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Los Angeles

Goldfield Galleries, Los Angeles

Private Collection, Philadelphia

Christie's, New York, 5 May 1999, lot 162

Vance Jordan Fine Art Inc., New York

Private Collection, Virginia (acquired from the above)

Leah and Richard Waitzer Foundation, Virginia (acquired as a gift from the above by 2019)

Acquired as a gift from the above by the present owner

Dated circa 1912-15, Synchromy is a rare painting hailing from Morgan Russell's mature period at which point he was fully exploring Synchronism. While studying in Paris in 1912, Russell founded the Synchromist movement with fellow American Stanton Macdonald-Wright, whose estate originally owned the present work. The artists co-founded Synchromism on the belief that color and sound share comparable properties—meaning colors in a painting can be arranged with the same sense of harmony and structure that a composer employs notes in a symphony. Painting using scales of color, both Russell and Macdonald-Wright believed their paintings could evoke the same intricate emotional and sensory responses as music. 

Russell and MacDonald Wright's paintings from this period are considered some of the first abstractions in American art history. Despite its brief existence, Synchromism emerged as the first American avant-garde movement to achieve international acclaim.