Apollinaire

Guillaume Apollinaire, born Wilhelm Apollinaris Kostrowitzky (26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918), was a French poet, critic, and art critic who became a central figure in the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century. His work bridged traditional lyricism and radical modern poetry, influencing both literature and the visual arts.

Born in Rome to a Polish noble father and an Italian mother, he moved across Europe before settling in Paris in 1900. He adopted the name Guillaume Apollinaire, adopting a cosmopolitan identity that reflected his wide cultural interests. In Paris he forged connections with painters such as Picasso and Braque and became a prolific commentator on contemporary art.

Apollinaire is best known for his collections Alcools (1913) and Calligrammes (1918). Alcools blends classic lyric sensibilities with modern urban experience, while Calligrammes features poems arranged typographically to create visual images, a hallmark of his experimental approach to form. He also helped popularize the term Orphism to describe a poetry and painting that sought musicality and color in art, underscoring his belief in the harmony of different artistic media. His willingness to experiment with free verse, punctuation, and layout made him a precursor of later avant-garde movements, including Surrealism.

During World War I, Apollinaire served as a dispatch rider and produced war-themed poetry before his death in Paris from the Spanish flu in 1918. His innovative use of language and typography, along with his interdisciplinary interest in art, left a lasting impact on modern poetry and the broader shaping of 20th-century art.