Haikus, Modernism and Stanton MacDonald-Wright

Stanton MacDonald-Wright’s “Haiga Portfolio� (1965-1966) blends Eastern and Western
influences, pairing vibrant modernist paintings with haikus written by some of Japan’s most influential
poets.The term “haiga� refers to a style of Japanese painting by haiku poets, whose poems are known for their
brevity and simplicity. Each of the ten prints that compose the “Haiga Portfolio� have a corresponding
haiku.The “Haiga Portfolio� exemplifies the 20 th century modernist movement Synchromism, cofounded in
1913 by MacDonald-Wright and Morgan Russell. The movement sought to arrange color in the same
way that sound is composed in music and is considered the first American avant-guard movement to be
accepted internationally. Seventy-five years old at the time of the portfolio’s creation, MacDonald-
Wright employed the use of energetic, swirling shapes coupled with dense, vivid colors orchestrated in
the modernist style and the rhythm of Synchromism.