About
Guillaume Apollinaire, born Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzky in Rome in 1880, was a French poet and writer of Polish origin. Settling in Paris around 1900, he became a central figure in the Montmartre and Montparnasse artistic circles, associating with Picasso, Derain, and Chagall. His collection Alcools (1913) marked modern poetry by abolishing punctuation. Inventor of the calligram, he published Calligrammes in 1918. He coined the terms 'Cubism', 'Orphism', and 'Surrealism'. Enlisting voluntarily in 1914, he was wounded in the head in 1916. He died of the Spanish flu in 1918, two days before the armistice.
* 1880-08-26 — † 1918-11-09
Major works
- Alcools (1913)poetry collection
- Calligrammes (1918)poetry collection
- Les Peintres cubistes (1913)essay
- Les Onze Mille Verges (1907)novel
- Les Exploits d'un jeune Don Juan (1911)novel
Key milestones
- 1911Coined the term 'Cubism' in a catalogue preface for the Brussels Indépendants salon.
- 1916Wounded in the head by shrapnel during World War I, requiring trepanation.
- 1917Used the term 'Surrealism' in the programme notes for his play Les Mamelles de Tirésias, believed to be the first known use.
Themes
modernitylovewarartistic creationmelancholy
Sources: britannica.com · metmuseum.org · production-gcp.moma.org