The National Museum of Western Art (NMWA), Tokyo¡¯s special exhibition ¡°Le Corbusier and the Age of Purism¡± provides a tangential look at the career of Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965), who went on to become better known as the pioneering modernist architect ¡°Le Corbusier.¡± This survey of his transition from painter to designer of buildings and urban spaces is a revealing origins story that suggests a greater understanding of Le Corbusier¡¯s architectural vision could come from considering his 2D images.
Creator of elegant minimalist villas, and a promoter of raw concrete who used wartime coastal defence fortifications as inspiration for a church, Le Corbusier has been canonized as a creative genius but also vilified as a megalomaniacal opportunist many times over. The acknowledgement most pertinent to this exhibition is the NMWA building itself having been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2016.
Though there are several architectural models on display, including a section devoted to the iconic Villa Savoye (1928-31), built in Poissy in the western suburbs of Paris, the exhibition mainly focuses on Le Corbusier¡¯s painting. It also includes work by artists that led to the purism movement developed by Le Corbusier and French artist Amedee Ozenfant (1886-1966) in response to cubism.
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