# Poetism (ポエティスム)

> The programme of the Czech avant-garde group Devětsil, extending poetry onto the page and into life itself. Its 'picture poems' combining photomontage with type, its compositions of circles and diagonals, and its vivid two-colour printing turned poetry books, magazines and posters into one continuous field of experiment.

- IndexStyle No.478 — https://indexstyle.org/styles/poetism
- Kind: Style · Family: Czech Avant-garde · Era: 1923–1934
- Mood: Intimacy, Technology
- Color cues: #e9e6dd / #67635d / #171615 (cues taken from reference works, not a fixed palette)

## Defining characteristics

- Photomontage juxtaposed with type
- Compositions of circles and diagonals
- Two vivid, restricted colours
- Typography as poetry

## Best used for

- Poetry collections and cultural programmes set as typographic picture poems
- Two-colour risograph posters where circles, rules and photographs rhyme

## Research method

This entry records a historical style; derive the treatment from its sources rather than a fixed recipe:

- Constructivist grotesques mixed across playful sizes; letters allowed to behave as images
- Circles, diagonals and rules choreographing photomontage fragments across the page
- Two vivid inks—typically red with black or blue—on warm book paper

## What to avoid

Avoid pure constructivist severity—without lyric play between word and image, the page is engineering, not a poem.

## Application checklist

Before calling a piece an application of this style, check it against the defining characteristics:

- [ ] Photomontage juxtaposed with type
- [ ] Compositions of circles and diagonals
- [ ] Two vivid, restricted colours
- [ ] Typography as poetry
- [ ] At least one reference work below has been studied directly
- [ ] The caution above ("What to avoid") has been addressed

## Related styles

- **The New Typography (ニュー・タイポグラフィ)** — Turned printed matter into rational information structure through asymmetry, sans-serifs, photography and functional hierarchy. → https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-typography
- **Constructivism (構成主義)** — Turns a message into motion with diagonals and hard contrast. → https://indexstyle.org/styles/constructivism

## Further study

- Karel Teige's theory and book designs
- The page layouts of the magazine ReD
- The picture poem as a form

## Reference works

- Karel Teige《キテラ島への船出》1923–24, プラハ市立美術館 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Teige%2C%20Odjezd%20na%20Kytheru%20(Departure%20for%20Cythera)%20(1923%E2%80%9324).%20Prague%20City%20Gallery.png
- Karel Teige《フラッチャニのモチーフ》1920 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Karel%20Teige%20%E2%80%93%20Hrad%C4%8Dansk%C3%BD%20motiv%2C%201920.png
- Karel Teige によるヤロスラフ・サイフェルトの肖像 1921 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jaroslav%20Seifert%20(portrait%20by%20Karel%20Teige%2C%201921).jpg

## Source of record

- Monoskop — Poetism — https://monoskop.org/Poetism

## Machine surfaces

- JSON: https://indexstyle.org/api/styles/poetism
- Image-generation prompt (legally clean): https://indexstyle.org/styles/poetism/prompt.txt
- MCP: https://indexstyle.org/mcp (tools: search_styles, get_style, compose_styles; prompts: image-prompt, apply-style)

## 日本語

チェコの前衛集団デヴィエトシルが掲げた、詩を紙面と生活そのものへ拡張する綱領。写真モンタージュと活字を組み合わせた「絵画詩」、円と斜線の構成、鮮やかな二色刷りが、詩集・雑誌・ポスターを一続きの実験場にした。

特徴: 写真モンタージュと活字の併置／円・斜線による構成／限定された鮮やかな二色／詩としてのタイポグラフィ
注意: 表面的な記号へ還元せず、時代・地域・技術・制作主体の文脈を確認する。