RAYONISM

Russian Luchism (Ray-ism), Russian art movement founded by Mikhail F. Larionov, representing one of the first steps toward the development of abstract art in Russia. Larionov painted the first Rayonist work, Glass, in 1909 and wrote the movement's manifesto in 1912 (though it was not published until the following year). Explaining the new style, which was a synthesis of Cubism, Futurism, and Orphism, Larionov said that it is concerned with spatial forms which are obtained through the crossing of reflected rays from various objects. The raylike lines appearing in the works of Larionov and Natalya Goncharova bear strong similarities to the lines of force in Futurist paintings. Rayonism apparently ended after 1914, when Larionov and Goncharova departed for Paris.