Access a slow-looking exercise of this work.

Transcript
Narrator: Morgan Russell’s "Four Part Synchromy, Number 7," made from 1914 to 1915, consists of four small oil paintings on paperboard and canvas, mounted into a vertical rectangle on plywood. It is almost 1 1/2 feet tall and 1 foot wide. Its title refers to the early 20th-century artistic movement called Synchromism, a term that means “with color” and plays on the words “symphony” and “synchrony”—allusions to music and simultaneity.  

The four paintings, each tall and rectangular, join to form a unified rectangular composition divided into quadrants. Overall, vibrantly colored geometric shapes group together among a field of bright cobalt blue. The shapes include curved forms and straight-sided polygons that seem to overlap. There are rust red, black, plum, brown, gray, and evergreen shades that recede in contrast to brighter whites, light dusty peaches, grassy greens, teals, and vibrant yellows and siennas.  

While visually unified, each canvas differs in its specific shapes, colors, and overall composition.  The two left canvases are filled with shapes, while the two right canvases reveal more of the cobalt blue background.  The upper two canvases feature softer pastels, while the bottom canvases feature deeper shades and black tones. The shapes in the upper right canvas are straight sided. Moving counterclockwise into the other canvases, the shapes are progressively softer with curves and arcs. Reaching the final lower right canvas, circles are layered among the other straight-sided shapes. Together, the shapes seem to assemble into larger three-dimensional pyramids and other polygons, giving an overall sense of twisting and turning throughout the composition. 

The shapes are delineated by varying textures. Wide brushstrokes indicate the daubs and directions of the artist’s hand. It is apparent that the paint was applied in layers. In some areas, the shapes are vaguely transparent, gently veiling other hues that were painted beneath. These underlayers are also revealed where adjacent shapes are separated by small gaps.  

"Four Part Synchromy, Number 7" refers to Russell’s interest in the composer Ludwig van Beethoven, and in loosely transposing musical concepts into painting. The four small canvases create an ensemble of harmonic abstraction and gesture to parts of a symphonic piece.

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