Morgan Russell
Synchromy

ArtistAmerican, 1886–1953
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Synchromy
Datec. 1914
PlaceUnited States
MediumOil on composition board
DimensionsPanel: 13 × 13 3/4 in. (33 × 34.9 cm)
Frame: 14 7/8 × 15 1/2 × 1 3/4 in. (37.8 × 39.4 × 4.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number78.149
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
American Art
Object Type
DescriptionWhile studying in Paris with Henri Matisse,
Morgan Russell met fellow American Stanton
Macdonald-Wright. By 1912 the two had
embraced aspects of Cubism as they sought
to infuse their abstractions with additional
resonance through color. They coined the
term “Synchromy” (literally “with color”) to
describe their work, an early and uniquely
American contribution to the rise of radical
Modernism. Russell’s Synchromy is among his
most purely abstract works, with prismatic
tonal rhythms animating the composition.
ProvenanceBenjamin Franklin Garber, the Kennedy-Garber Galleries, New York
Exhibition History"Direction and Diversity: Twentieth Century Art in the Museum Collection," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, May 21–September 3, 1988.

"Morgan Russell: A Retrospective," Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey, April 22–June 17, 1990; The Terra Museum, Chicago, July 7–September 3, 1990; The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, September 15–November 4, 1990.

"American Made: 250 Years of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, July 7, 2012–January 2, 2013.

"Once Upon a Time in America," Wallraf-Richartz Museum and Foundation Corboud, Cologne, Germany, November 23, 2018–March 24, 2019.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed in red paint upper right corner verso:"M.R."

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Quo Vadis
Morgan Russell
c. 1940
Oil on canvas mounted on board
2007.182
Seated Nude in Landscape
Morgan Russell
c. 1933
Oil on burlap canvas
2007.181
Texas
Lockwood de Forest
February 11, 1904
Oil on board mounted on canvas
2024.96
Woodblock
David Rabinowitch
no date
Pear wood and composition board
96.52.7
Woodblock
David Rabinowitch
no date
Pear wood and composition board
96.52.3
One of two woodblocks for print #11
David Rabinowitch
no date
Pear wood and composition board
96.52.5.2
Woodblock
David Rabinowitch
no date
Pear wood and composition board
96.52.6.2
Terry Winters
no date
Lead and pencil on composition board and plywood
96.58.10.A,.B
Terry Winters
no date
Lead and pencil on composition board and plywood
96.58.9.A,.B
[Twelve cancelled mahogany-veneered plywood woodblocks in composition board frame]
Sherrie Levine
1989
Mahogany-veneered plywood and composition board with diagram for assembly
96.50.A-.M
Approach of the White Men
Charles M. Russell
1897
Oil on canvas
2019.51
Composición con grises (Composition in Grey)
Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar
1956
Oil on paper mounted on board
2022.151