Blast (magazine)

This article is about the British literary magazine, not to be confused with the San Francisco
anarchist magazine, The Blast (magazine).
Blast was the short-lived literary magazine of the
Vorticist movement in Britain. Two editions were published: the rst on 2 July 1914 (dated 20 June 1914, but
publication was delayed)[1][2] and published with a bright
pink cover, referred to by Ezra Pound as the great MAGENTA cover'd opusculus"; and the second a year later
on 15 July 1915. Both editions were written primarily by
Wyndham Lewis. [3] The magazine is emblematic of the
modern art movement in England,[4] and recognised as
a seminal text of pre-war 20th-century modernism.[5][6]
The magazine originally cost 2/6.

Background

When the Italian futurist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

visited London in 1910,[7] as part of a series of wellpublicised lectures aimed at galvanizing support across
Europe for the new Italian avant-garde, his presentation at the Lyceum Club, in which he addressed his
audience as victims of .... traditionalism and its
medieval trappings,[8] electried the assembled avantgarde. Within two years, an exhibition of futurist art at
the Sackville Gallery, London, brought futurism squarely
into the popular imagination, and the press began to use
the term to refer to any forward-looking trends in modern
art.

The cover of the second, War Number, edition of Blast featuring

a woodcut by Wyndham Lewis's in the vorticist style

preach to us about.[10]
The nal riposte came with the publication of Blast (later
known as Blast 1), written and illustrated by a group of
artists assembled by Lewis from a determined band of
miscellaneous anti-futurists.[3] The name Vorticism was
coined by the poet Ezra Pound, a close friend of Lewis
and the groups main publicist.[11] Writing to James Joyce
in April 1914, Pound described the magazine in ambiguous terms: Lewis is starting a new Futurist, Cubist, Imagiste Quarterly .... I cant tell, it is mostly a
painters magazine with me to do the poems.[3] By July,
the magazine had a name, a movement to support, and a
typographic style, and it had forged a distinctly English
identity, condent enough to praise Kandinsky, question
Picasso,[12] and openly mock Marinetti.

Initially galvanized by Marinettis verve, Wyndham

Lewislike many other members of the London avantgardehad become increasingly irritated by the Italians arrogance.[3] The publication of the English Futurist
manifesto Vital English Art, in June 1914 edition of The
Observer, co-written by Marinetti and the last remaining English Futurist C. R. W. Nevinson, Lewis found his
name, among others, had been added as a signatory at the
end of the article without permission, in an attempt to assimilate the English avant-garde for Marinettis own ends.
On 12 June, during recitations of this manifesto and a performance by Marinetti of his poem The Battle of Adrianople, with Nevinson accompanying on drums, Lewis,
T. E. Hulme, Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, 2 Editions
Edward Wadsworth, and ve others roundly interrupted
the performance with jeering and shouting.[9] Wyndham Blast 1 was edited and largely written by Wyndham Lewis
Lewis wrote a few days later, England practically in- with contributions from Pound, Gaudier-Brzeska, Epvented this civilisation that Signor Marinetti has come to stein, Spencer Gore, Wadsworth, and Rebecca West and
1

3 WORLD WAR I AND THE END OF VORTICISM

included an extract from Ford Madox Hueers novel The The manifesto is primarily a long list of things to be
Saddest Story, better known by its later title The Good Sol- 'Blessed' or 'Blasted'. It starts:
dier (published under his subsequent pseudonym, Ford
Madox Ford). The rst edition was printed in folio for1. Beyond Action and Reaction we would establish
mat, with the oblique title Blast splashed across its bright
ourselves.
pink soft cover. Inside, Lewis used a range of bold typo2. We start from opposite statements of a chosen
graphic innovations and tricks to engage the reader, that
world. Set up violent structure of adolescent clearare reminiscent of Marinettis contemporary concrete poness between two extremes.
etry such as Zang Tumb Tumb.
The opening twenty pages of Blast 1 contain the Vorticist manifesto, written by Lewis with assistance from
Pound and signed by Lewis, Wadsworth, Pound, William
Roberts, Helen Saunders, Lawrence Atkinson, Jessica
Dismorr, and Gaudier-Brzeska. Epstein chose not to sign
the manifesto, although his work was featured. There
is also a (positive) critique of Kandinsky's Concerning
the Spiritual In Art, a faintly patronising exhortation to
suragettes not to destroy works of art, a review of a London exhibition of Expressionist woodcuts, and a last dig
at Marinetti by Wyndham Lewis:
Futurism, as preached by Marinetti, is
largely Impressionism up-to-date. To this is
added his Automobilism and Nietzsche stunt,
With a lot of good sense and vitality at his disposal, he hammers away in the blatant mechanism of his Manifestos, at his idee xe of
Modernity.[13]

2.1

The Manifesto

3. We discharge ourselves on both sides.

4. We ght rst on one side, then on the other, but always for the SAME cause, which is neither side or
both sides and ours.
5. Mercenaries were always the best troops.
6. We are primitive Mercenaries in the Modern World.
7. Our Cause is NO-MAN'S.
8. We set Humour at Humours throat. Stir up Civil
War among peaceful apes.
9. We only want Humour if it has fought like Tragedy.
10. We only want Tragedy if it can clench its sidemuscles like hands on its belly, and bring to the surface a laugh like a bomb.
[Blast 1] included the now famous pages of
subjects either 'Blasted' or 'Blessed' depending
on how they were seen by the edgling Vorticists. 'Blast' pages generally had a go at [Roger]
Fry, the Bloomsbury set, the average art critic,
and Putney (for some reason). Amongst those
being Blessed are hairdressers and mariners.
The latter two professions were celebrated because they both battle against elemental nature.
Tonks, the Slade drawing tutor has the
unique honour of being both 'Blessed' and
'Blasted'. Vorticism Online[14]
The rst edition also contained many illustrations in the
Vorticist style by Jacob Epstein, Lewis and others.
The second edition, published on 20 July 1915, contained
a short play by Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot's poems Preludes and Rhapsody on a Windy Night. Another article by Gaudier-Brzeska entitled Vortex (written from the
Trenches) further described the vorticist aesthetic. It was
written whilst Gaudier-Brzeska was ghting in the First
World War, a few weeks before he was killed at Verdun.

3 World War I and the end of Vorticism

The rst section of Wyndham Lewis Manifesto, Blast 1, 1914

Thirty-three days after Blast 1 was published, war was declared on Germany. The First World War would destroy

3
vorticism;[15] both Gaudier-Brzeska and T. E. Hulme [8] Lyon (1999), p. 97
were killed at the front, and Bomberg lost his faith in
modernism.[16] Lewis was mobilised in 1916, initially [9] Black (2004), p. 100
ghting in France as an artillery ocer, later working
as a war artist for the Canadian Government. He would [10] Wyndham Lewis, quoted in Pfannkuchen (2005)
try to re-invigorate the avant-garde after the war; Lewis
[11] Vorticism Online. Vorticism.co.uk. Retrieved 2009wrote to a friend after the war that he intended to pub08-17.
[17]
lish a third edition of Blast in November 1919. He organised an exhibition of avant-garde artists called Group [12] These wayward little objects have a splendid air, starting
X[18] at Heals Gallery in MarchApril 1920, and later
up in pure creation, with their invariable and lofty detachpublished a new magazine, The Tyro, of which only two
ment from any utilitarian end or purpose. But they do not
issues appeared.[19] The further issue of Blast failed to
seem to possess the necessary physical stamina to survive,
You feel the glue will come unstuck and that you would
appear, and neither of the other two ventures managed to
only have to blow with your mouth to shatter them Relaachieve the momentum of his pre-war eorts. Richard
tivism and Picassos Latest Work, Lewis, quoted in Blast
Cook writes:
1, p. 139

When Lewis returned from the trenches, he

hoped to revivify the Vorticist spirit, planning a
third issue of Blast and regaining contact with
old allies. But the whole context of pre-war
experimentation had been dispersed by the destructive power of mechanized warfare, which
persuaded most of the former Vorticists to
pursue more representational directions thereafter. By 1920 even Lewis was obliged to admit that the movement was dead.[15]

Public collections

[13] Lewis, The Melodrama of Modernity, Blast 1 p. 143

[14] Blast. Vorticism.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
[15] Vorticism, an essay by Richard Cook, Oxford Art Online
[16] "[Bombergs] disillusion with the destructive power of the
machine at war led to a few years spent experimenting with
ways of making his stark pre-war style more rounded and
organic. Quoted from the essay on Bomberg by Richard
Cork, Oxford Art Online
[17] Quoted in Black (2004), p. 102
[18] Participating artists were Dismorr, Dobson, Etchells, Ginner, Hamilton, Lewis, Roberts, McKnight Kauer, Turnbull and Wadsworth

Both editions have been reprinted a number of times

and are shortly to be made available again by Thames
and Hudson; original copies are in the collections of [19] Tate Online. Tate.org.uk. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate, Yale University,
Wake Forest University, University of Delaware, Chelsea [20] Nasher Museum Retrieved 17 September 2010
College, and others. The Nasher Museum of Art at
Duke University held an exhibition entitled The Vorticists:
Rebel Artists in London and New York, 191418 from 30
6 References
September 2010, through 2 January 2011.[20]

[1] Black (2004), p. 100

Black, Jonathan (2004). Blasting the Future: Vorticism and the Avant-Garde in Britain 191020.
Philip Wilson Publishers. ISBN 978-0-85667-5720

[2] see page 1 of Blast or Humphrey Carpenters A Serious

Character: The Life of Ezra Pound, p. 249

Lewis, Wyndham ed. (1914) Blast, issue 1. London:

Bodley Head.

[3] Pfannkuchen (2005)

Lewis, Wyndham ed. (1915) Blast, issue 2. London:

Bodley Head.

Notes

[4] Vorticism.co.uk. Vorticism.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-0817.

[5] Jackie Klein, Guardian Online
[6] University of Delaware Library. Lib.udel.edu. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
[7] For a part of this speech, se Wikiquotes, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

Lyon, Janet (1999). Manifestoes: Provocations of

the Modern. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-08014-3635-2. (Excerpt at Google Books)
Pfannkuchen, Antje (2005). From Vortex To Vorticism: Ezra Pounds art and science. Online via
Goliath and Highbeam.

Facsimile editions of Blast

1982. Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press. ISBN 9780-87685-521-8.
2009. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0500-28782-8.

Further reading
Beckett, Jane (2000). Blast: Vorticism, 19141918.
Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84014-647-9
Bury, Stephen (2007). Breaking the Rules: The
Printed Face of the European Avant Garde 1900
1937. London: British Library. ISBN 978-0-71230980-6
Orchard, Karin ed. (1996). Blast: Vortizismus
die erste Avantgarde in England 19141918. Berlin:
Ars Nicolai. ISBN 978-3-89169-105-2

External links
Vorticism Online
Blast 1 (1914) at the Modernist Journals Project
Blast 1 pdf
Blast 2 (1915) at the Modernist Journals Project
Blast 2 pdf
9 August 1914, The New York Times VORTICISM
THE LATEST CULT OF REBEL ARTISTS; It
Goes a Step Further Than Cubism and Futurism,
and Is Sponsored by Brzeska, Epstein and Others.
Its Ocial Mouthpiece Is a Cerise Magazine Called
Blast.

EXTERNAL LINKS

10
10.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Blast (magazine) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_(magazine)?oldid=682702487 Contributors: Charles Matthews, Maximus

Rex, Bearcat, Mervyn, Solipsist, Sam Hocevar, MakeRocketGoNow, Marudubshinki, Sparkit, BD2412, Rjwilmsi, Tim!, Koavf, Harmil,
Jaraalbe, Cactus.man, Anomalocaris, Tne80, Chick Bowen, DAJF, SmackBot, Classiclms, McGeddon, Rrburke, Curly Turkey, Ceoil,
Ohconfucius, Yourmotherisanastronaut, Cydebot, Noroton, Actio, Coyets, Modernist, Skomorokh, JustinMN, Guillaume2303, Randy
Kryn, ClueBot, Franciselliott, Addbot, Blethering Scot, Lightbot, Semlohsa moht, Victoriaearle, AnomieBOT, LilHelpa, Carrite, Edgecli89, FrescoBot, Tim1357, Maalga, Jay-Sebastos, Philafrenzy, LeagueX, Helpful Pixie Bot, Egeymi, Vortexpress, Godsy and Anonymous: 23

10.2

Images

File:Blast2.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Blast2.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Modern

American Poetry: from Blast (1914-1915) Original artist: Wyndham Lewis
File:BlastFirst.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6c/BlastFirst.jpg License: PD-US Contributors:
http://dl.lib.brown.edu/repository2/repoman.php?verb=render&id=1143209523824844&view=pageturner&pageno=13 Original artist:
Wyndham Lewis
File:Tate-blast.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/Tate-blast.jpg License: PD-US Contributors:
Tate Online, http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tate.org.uk/images/cms/12607w_blastpink.jpg&imgrefurl=http:
//www.tate.org.uk/tateetc/issue7/kandinsky.htm&h=512&w=411&sz=200&hl=en&start=5&usg=__JPvfYdjej7IkpvYdCXx_
PfWw6n8=&tbnid=5Qfc6Ki7SOrYvM:&tbnh=131&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dblast%2Bwyndham%26gbv%3D2%26hl%
3Den%26sa%3DG Original artist:
Wyndham Lewis

10.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0