Wyndham Lewis’s bitter critique of contemporary British art and architecture published by The Egoist in 1919 which at the time was edited by Harriet Shaw Weaver and T.S. Eliot. Wyndham Lewis’s essay presents his view on the art of the immediate post-war period at which point the Vorticist movement he founded in 1914 was in decline. The author's second book (1,000 copies were printed, of which 121 copies were distributed gratis, 707 paid for and 84 eventually remaindered). (Pound & Grover)
In his use of the titular phrase "Calyph's Design" the author refers to himself as Calyph, (from the Arabic word khalīfah, meaning an alternative leader or successor). He offers his vision of an art that would act as an antidote to both naive, reactionary traditionalism and the dehumanising impact of, among others, the Italian Futurists. The title itself refers to the motif of the vortex – the eye of the storm, the point of stillness amidst chaos – a key concept of Vorticism. In posing the question “Architects! Where you Vortex?”, Lewis challenges his contemporaries to find a new creative centre and purpose in the post-war world.
Title: Calyph's Design. Architect's! Where is Your Vortex?
Authors: Wyndham Lewis
Publisher: The Egoist, London
Publication date: 1919
Design: Unknown
Format: paper covered card covers
Pages: 70pp
Language: English
Condition: covers completely detached from text block which is also partly separated, paper cover partly detached from front board, losses to covers.
Stock Number: RB05387 RH 67
Wyndham Lewis’s bitter critique of contemporary British art and architecture published by The Egoist in 1919 which at the time was edited by Harriet Shaw Weaver and T.S. Eliot. Wyndham Lewis’s essay presents his view on the art of the immediate post-war period at which point the Vorticist movement he founded in 1914 was in decline. The author's second book (1,000 copies were printed, of which 121 copies were distributed gratis, 707 paid for and 84 eventually remaindered). (Pound & Grover)
In his use of the titular phrase "Calyph's Design" the author refers to himself as Calyph, (from the Arabic word khalīfah, meaning an alternative leader or successor). He offers his vision of an art that would act as an antidote to both naive, reactionary traditionalism and the dehumanising impact of, among others, the Italian Futurists. The title itself refers to the motif of the vortex – the eye of the storm, the point of stillness amidst chaos – a key concept of Vorticism. In posing the question “Architects! Where you Vortex?”, Lewis challenges his contemporaries to find a new creative centre and purpose in the post-war world.
Title: Calyph's Design. Architect's! Where is Your Vortex?
Authors: Wyndham Lewis
Publisher: The Egoist, London
Publication date: 1919
Design: Unknown
Format: paper covered card covers
Pages: 70pp
Language: English
Condition: covers completely detached from text block which is also partly separated, paper cover partly detached from front board, losses to covers.
Stock Number: RB05387 RH 67
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