He first published "La Naissance d'un sixième art" (The Birth of a Sixth Art), arguing that cinema was a synthesis of the five traditional arts: architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and poetry.
Canudo’s vision did not emerge in a single moment but evolved alongside the developing technology of film: Manifesto Das Sete Artes Ricciotto Canudo.pdf
Canudo organized the arts into two distinct categories, which he believed cinema perfectly united: Rhythms of Time (Rhythmic Arts) 1. Architecture 2. Sculpture 5. Poetry / Literature 3. Painting He first published "La Naissance d'un sixième art"
In the manifesto, Canudo defends cinema not as a mere commercial product or scientific curiosity, but as a "Total Art". Sculpture 5
Canudo believed film was a "divine impulse" that married the precision of science (the camera/projector) with the ideals of art.
He famously defined cinema as "plastic art in motion," emphasizing its ability to use light and movement to create a new form of aesthetic experience.
The manifesto fundamentally raised the "intellectual level" of filmmaking. By providing a formal aesthetic background, Canudo encouraged other artists—painters, poets, and musicians—to view the screen as a legitimate canvas for creative expression. ART WITHIN THE 7TH ART - Art Madrid'26