German animatorOskar Fischingergave life to abstract shapes by exploring the relationship between sound and image.
Who was Oskar Fischinger?
He would then arrange them together to perfectly sync with musical compositions.
The prolific artist made over 50 short films and painted around 800 canvases.
Fischinger moved to Munich and began a full-time career in filmmaking.
In June 1927, Fischinger traveled from Munich to Berlin by foot to escape his financial difficulties.
After breaking an ankle on set, however, Fischinger was forced to create everything from the hospital.
He began drawing charcoal animations on paper, leading to hisStudiesseries.
FischingersStudiesseries featured hand-drawn motifs and geometric shapes that moved in synchronization to music.
During this time, the Nazis hated any art that was non-representational.
Along with Fischinger, abstract artists such asPaul KleeandWassily Kandinskywere written off as unsuccessful creatives.
But that didn’t stop Fischinger from making films.
The era also saw the invention of theGasparcolor process, allowing him to create animations in color.
Fischinger produced a film calledCircles(1933-1934), which was used as an advertising film.
Fischinger requested to be let out of the contract and left his position at Paramount Studios.
After numerous struggles to make it in Hollywood, Fischinger began pursuing oil painting.
He combined his passion for painting with animation in his 1947 film,Motion Painting No.
Fischinger died in Los Angeles in 1967, but his legacy lives on through his groundbreaking work.
TheCenter for Visual Music (CVM)has an extensive archive of Fischinger films and papers.
To learn more about this visionary, including more of his work, visit theCVM websiteand follow it onInstagram.
