Optical Poetry: An Oskar Fischinger Retrospective

The German-born Oskar Fischinger emigrated to Los Angeles in 1936 and is often called “cinema’s Kandinsky.” This retrospective features 35mm preserved prints of his classics, including Allegretto, Composition in Blue, Muratti Greift Ein, Studies 5, 6, 7, and 8, his masterpiece Motion Painting no. 1 (1947), plus many more.

“Fischinger created what he called ‘absolute animation,’ inventing techniques to give life to his spectacular visions. Imagine the paintings of Malevich swirling into psychoactive phantasmagoria, choreographed to symphonic music or jazz, and you'll only begin to understand his achievements. He’s one of the greatest abstract painters of the 20th century.”—Ed Halter, The Village Voice.

Program presented by the Center for Visual Music; introduction by curator/archivist Cindy Keefer. Followed by Color and Form: Modernist Animation in California

Bing Theater | $10 general admission; $7 for LACMA members, seniors (62+), and students with valid ID; $5 LACMA Film Club members | Tickets 323 857-6010 or purchase online | Tickets purchased for this screening allow access to the exhibition California Design.

Image: Allegretto (still), © Fischinger Trust, courtesy Center for Visual Music.

Fischinger prints preserved by Center for Visual Music, Academy Film Archive, EYE FIlm Insitute, and Fischinger Archive.