Sensory Crossovers: Synesthesia in American Art

Synesthesia in its simplest terms refers to sensory fusions or crossovers. Interest peaked between 1890 and 1930, when synesthesia became a focus of serious attention in the fields of visual art, music, literature and linguistics. During that period, Edvard Munch and Wassily Kandinsky were probably the best-known painters to respond visually to non-visual sensory stimuli. This catalogue brings alive synesthesia's underpinnings, with a broader study documenting the formal and expressive purposes these crossovers have served for American painters.