Lettrism is an artistic style which was conceived in Romania by Isidore Isou in 1942, when he was only sixteen years old, according to Jean-Paul Curtay in La Poesie Lettriste (Paris 1974). Lettrism was a response to what the Lettrists saw as André Breton's control of surrealism, as well as an attempt to popularise poetry. The lettrists worked in a variety of forms including sound as well as graphic arts involving letters.
Isou travelled to Paris where the Lettrist movement was formed. A split in the movement lead to the formation of the Lettrist International.
Lettrist works include Lexique Des Lettres Nouvelles, a sonic alphabet consisting of about 130 sounds which the Lettrists used in their poetry.
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