Ultraist movement facts for kids

The Ultraist movement (Spanish: ultraísmo) was an exciting art style that started in Spain in 1918. It was a literary movement, meaning it focused on writing, especially poetry. The Ultraists wanted to create something new. They aimed to be different from an older style called Modernismo, which was popular in Spanish poetry.

Ultraism began in Madrid, Spain. Writers and artists met in special gatherings called tertulias at the Café Colonial. These meetings were led by Rafael Cansinos Assens. Key members of the Ultraist group included Guillermo de Torre, Juan Larrea, Gerardo Diego, and the famous Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. Borges was living in Madrid at that time.

What Was Ultraism?

The Ultraist movement was influenced by other new art styles. These included Russian and Italian Futurism, Dadaism, and French surrealism. Ultraism aimed for a big change in how art and daily life looked. It wanted to be different from the fancy and old-fashioned style of Modernismo.

Ultraist Poetry

Ultraist poetry had special features:

• It used strong, vivid pictures in words, called imagery.
• It talked about the modern world and new technologies.
• It often did not use rhyme.
• It played with how poems looked on the page. This was an effort to mix plastic arts (like painting) with poetry.
• Ultraism was also influenced by Symbolism and the Parnassians.

Main Goals of Ultraism

In 1922, Jorge Luis Borges explained the main goals of Ultraism in a magazine. He said Ultraists wanted to:

• Focus on the most important part of a poem: the metaphor. A metaphor compares two different things without using "like" or "as."
• Remove extra words, like linking words or adjectives that weren't needed.
• Avoid fancy decorations, personal feelings, long descriptions, or confusing ideas.
• Combine two or more images into one. This made the poem more interesting and thought-provoking.

The Ultraists believed the older Modernismo style used too many decorations. They felt it lacked real meaning. Like other new art movements, Ultraism also avoided being overly sentimental or emotional.

Ultraism and Creacionismo

Ultraism was similar to another art style called creacionismo. This style was created by the Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro. Huidobro met with the Ultraists at their tertulias. He believed a poem should be a completely new thing. It should be created "like nature creates a tree." This meant a poem should be free from real life, even the writer's own feelings.

The Ultraist movement officially ended in 1922. This was when their main magazine, Ultra, stopped being published. However, some writers, like Borges, continued to write in the Ultraist style for many years after.

See also

In Spanish: Ultraísmo para niños