Guillaume Apollinaire

Guillaume Apollinaire (August 26, 1880 - November 9, 1918) waspoet, writerart critic.

Born Wilhelm Albert Vladimir Apollinaris de KostrowitzkyRome, Italy, he was one ofmany great artists who worked inMontmartre districtParis during an eragreat creativity. One ofmost popular members ofartistic village at Montparnasse, his friendscollaborators during that period were Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie,Ossip Zadkine.

In 1911, he joinedPuteaux Group, an offshoot branch ofCubist movement.

Apollinaire's first collectionpoetry was L'enchanteur pourrissant (1909), butwas Alcools (1913) which established his reputation. These poems, influencedpart bysymbolistss, juxtaposeold andnew, using traditional formsmodern imagery.

Also1913, Apollinaire publishedessay "Les Peintres cubistes" oncubist painters,movement which he helpeddefine. He also coinedterm orphismdescribetendency towards absolute abstraction inpaintingsRobert Delaunayothers.

He foughtWorld War Iin 1916 was seriously wounded intemple (see photo). While recovering from his wound, he wroteplay Les Mamelles de Tirésias (1917) (the subjectan opera by Francis Poulenc premiered1947), which he described as surrealist, makingone offirst worksbe so-described. He had earlier coinedword surrealism inprogram notesJean CocteauErik Satie's ballet Parade, first performed on 18 May 1917. He also published an artistic manifesto, L'Esprit nouveau et les poètes.

The weakened Apollinaire diedinfluenza duringSpanish Flu pandemic1918. He was interred inLe Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris. Shortly after his death, Calligrammes,collectionhis concrete poetry (poetrywhich typographylayout adds tooverall effect) was published.

External link

• http://www.wiu.edu/Apollinaire/
• Apollinaire at ubuweb (includes exampleshis work)