Orphist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who follows the mystical Orphic religious tradition of ancient Greece or the early twentieth-century art movement ; characterizing the beliefs, rituals or abstract painting style associated with that tradition
2. Someone who adheres to Orphic mysticism or to the colourful abstract style of art started by Robert Delaunay ; describing anything connected with the doctrines, practices or visual style of Orphism
3. An adherent of the Orphic cult or of the Delaunay-led painting movement ; pertaining to the mystery teachings, poetry or abstract colour art that take their name from Orpheus

Etymology: In the early 1910s, the French poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire named a style of painting "Orphism," after Orpheus, the singer of Greek myth whose music could move stones and tame wild beasts. He applied it to the abstract, colour-driven work of Robert Delaunay and his circle. An "orphist" was a painter working in that manner, and the name suggested art that was lyrical and almost musical rather than descriptive. The noun has an older, very different sense. In ancient Greece, "Orphic" described a body of mystical religious teachings and poems attributed to Orpheus, though many authors composed those texts over several centuries and the singer himself wrote none of them. Scholars use "Orphism" for this religion too, and an orphist in that sense is a follower of its teachings.