Cubism
Picasso painting a gothic pitcher, Madoura, Vallauris, 1953 Image by Artsy
A Cubist's World
Cubism is a unique world where it’s more than just geometrics meets art. Cubism is a world where artists challenge the viewer of their understanding of the subject matter, in other words to see the subject in a different perspective. The leaders of this movement, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque often experimented the meaning of cubism well into their careers which resulted in many styles as well as mediums that cubism can be seen in.
Cubism
Cubism started between 1906-1908, Paris, where artists then began to grow weary of the art world around them, during this time was mainly influenced by their own community and region. Picasso would find African art and would be greatly influenced by its spirituality and style 1. The ideas in this movement resulted in the many important contributions that artists would see today.
Geogres Barque in his studio 1948 image by Icp.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907 from Google Images
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907
There is no doubt that this piece is the most important and recognizable work in the art world, especially for this time. Picasso first showed this work to his friends, Henri Matisse and André Derain, who agreed with Picasso that this piece was vastly different at the time of the art world, in this case avant garde (this means advance for it's time) 2. The faces were mask-like, and non-expressive, the striking poses, brought in viewers and took a moment longer to identify and study the subject to understand the piece itself. The fact that this painting would be edited and changed over a six month period before showcasing the work to Matisse and Derain showed that this piece shook Picasso’s spirit as he painted the giant piece that reckoned the cubist movement 3. Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907, would inspire more artists of the ideas and goals for the cubism movement to this day.
The Portuguese,1911
Georges Braque’s The Portuguese, 1911, would be also another piece that developed the Cubist movement, greatly inspiring other artists with their own work as well that could stem into the Dada movement. By using text and composition as some of the foundations of this piece, Braque really wanted the viewer to search and question what the piece is showing the viewer 4. This work would be recognized for its innovation for the cubist movement which lead to many inspiration for future movements such as the Dada movement.
The Portuguese,1911 from Google images
Conclusion
The cubism movement is a widely recognized movement that brings many ideas to the table that many wouldn’t think at the time conventional for the art world to be using or let alone inspired by. It shows once again that artists, so long as they have the means, will be inspired to create the world around them by using many resources that they see fit.
Image by Google Images
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Douglas, Cooper. The Cubist Epoch. London : Phaidon, in association with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art & the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970.
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Douglas, “The Cubist Epoch”.
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Douglas, “The Cubist Epoch”.
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Douglas, “The Cubist Epoch”.