Upcoming Events

"Charles Sirato’s Journey to the Dimensionist Manifesto and Beyond"
Tuesday, October 15 / 4:30pm
Murray Hall 302
Free and open to the public.

Art historian Oliver A. I. Botar looks at the life of Charles Sirató (aka Károly Tamkó Sirató), including his intellectual and artistic journey that leads to his drafting of the remarkable "Dimensionist Manifesto" in Paris in 1936. It was signed by such luminaries of the art world as Hans Arp, Sophie Taueber-Arp, Camille Bryen, César Domela, Ben Nicholson, Alexander Calder, Robert Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, Wassily Kandinsky, Katarzyna Kobro, Joan Miró, László Moholy-Nagy, Francis Picabia, and Enrico Prampolini. Among the topics of discussion are: Sirató’s intellectual background in Hungary, particularly the Hungarian literary and artistic avant-garde from around 1919 to 1930; his knowledge of Einstein’s conception of relativity and Minkowski’s related formulation of the space-time continuum; his contacts with members of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 1930s; and the project for a Dimensionist Movement, which failed to materialize due to Sirató’s health problems and the impending war. The talk ends with a brief look at the afterlife of the Manifesto and the effect that its virtual disappearance from the art historical record had on its author.

Organized by the Department of Art History, Rutgers University, and the Zimmerli Art Museum, with support from the Salgo Trust for Education.