Cubism

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Cubism
1291 Words 6 Pages
Cubism
Before the twentieth century, art was recognized as an imitation of

nature. Paintings and portraits were made to look as realistic and three-
dimensional as possible, as if seen through a window. Artists were
painting in the flamboyant fauvism style. French postimpressionist Paul
Cézannes flattened still lives, and African sculptures gained in
popularity in Western Europe when artists went looking for a new way
of showing their ideas and expressing their views. In 1907 Pablo
Picasso created the painting Les Damsoilles d'Avignon, depicting five
women whose bodies are constructed of geometric shapes and heads
of African masks rather then faces. This new image grew to be known
as 'cubism'. The name originating from the critic Louis Vauxcelles, who
after reviewing French artist and fellow Cubist Georges Braque
exhibition wrote of 'Bizzeries Cubiques', and that objects 'had been
reduced to cubes (Arnheim, 1984). Cubism changed the way art was
represented and viewed.
Picasso, together with Braque, presented a new style of painting

that showed the subject from several different angles simultaneously.
The result was intended to show the object in a more complete and
realistic view than traditional art, to convey a feeling of being able to
move around within the painting. ?Cubism abandoned traditional
notions of perception, foreshadowing and modeling and aimed to
represent solidarity and volume in a three-dimensional plane without
converting the two-dimensional canvas illusionalistically into a three-
dimensional picture space? (Chivers, 1998). Picasso and Braque
pioneered the movement and worked so closely together that they had
difficulty telling their own work apart. They referred to each other as
Orville and Wilbur, knowing that their contributions to art were every bit
as revolutionary as the first flight (Hoving, 1999).
Cubism was divided into two categories. Analytical Cubism, beginning

in 1907, visually laid out what the artist thought was important about the
subject rather then just mimicking it. Body parts and objects within the
picture were broken down into geometric shapes that were barley
recognizable as the original image. Braque wrote that ?senses deform
and the spirit forms?. Analytical Cubism restricted the use of color to
simple and dull hues so the emphasis would lie more on the structure.
Cézanne said, ?nature should be handled with the cylinder, spear and
cone? (Miki, 1976). The shapes painted were to be dissected,
separately analyzed and then reconstructed to form a new whole. The
outcome was to be of intellectual vision rather then spontaneous. ?The
aim of Analytical Cubism was to produce a conceptual image of an
object, as opposed to an optical one? (Harden, 1999).
Around 1912, Analytical Cubism reached a point where it threatened

to go beyond the visual comprehension of the viewer. At this time
Picasso and Braque took a different approach by replacing parts of the
pictures of real things with abstract signs and symbols. In Synthetic
Cubism size scales no longer mattered; in Picassos painting The Three
Musicians the hand of a man playing a guitar would be two inches
while the guitar itself was two feet. Bright, flashy color returned.
Synthetic Cubism is credited with creating the collage. Picasso made
the first collage using decorative paper and words and images clipped
from newspaper and sheet music put on wood to create the image of a
guitar. Other artists began using sand, rope and even mirrors to
symbolize things. In this way Synthetic Cubism came back slightly to
the conventional method of representing objects realistically and the
shape of objects became easier to recognize.
Cubism gained the interest of critics who had mixed views. One
critic viewed a Picasso painting of a violin and said he considered it an
insult to the viewers? intelligence to be expected to believe that a violin
would look like that. Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, a Paris art dealer and
friend of Picasso and Braque who supported Cubism, distributed
pamphlets advertising the ?new look? of reality and art (Robinson,
1995). After viewing a portrait done of her by Picasso, Gertrude Stein
told him: ?I don?t look like that?. He answered, ?you will?. She later
wrote, ?it is the only reproduction of me which is always I, for me?
(Schaffner, 1998). Other artists soon adopted the style. Juan Gris was
one of the first to copy cubism and brought it beyond France to his
native Spain and other countries. In the spring of 1911, the Paris salon
Des Independence began collecting the works of local Cubist painters
and held an exhibit featuring Jean Metzinger, Fernand Leger and
Robert Delaunay. It was the first large Cubism exhibit. During 1913 and
1914 so many artists in Paris had turned to Cubism that it had
temporarily became the universal language of avant-garde painting
(Arnheim, 1984). Artist in China, Russia and South America caught on
and began experimenting with different forms of Cubism. Aaron
Douglas and Stuart Davis brought the style to America in 1912,
although their interpretation was not as abstract as what was being
done in Europe at the time. In 1913 the Midtown Armory in New York
hosted an exhibit that drew large crowds. Cubism became the
dominating influence in the art world of New York until 1918.
The start of World War I marked the decline in Cubism in Europe.

Braque and many other artists were called off to fight. After being
injured by shrapnel; Braques painting was never the same. The war
killed many of the friends Picasso collaborated with. The community
that surrounded Cubism was over. Cubism led the way for other new
radical ideas in painting. Dada, Surrealism and Art Deco followed after
1918. These still showed objects in a symbolic manner but in a realistic,
more traditional semblance. Picasso experimented with new styles of
painting he tried his hand with Surrealism but turned to a classical style
in 1920. Picasso also took up designing theater sets and costumes.
In 1937 the Spanish Civil War broke out between the Republicans and
the Fascists under General Francos rule. Picasso was asked by the
Republicans to paint a mural for the Spanish Pavilion at the World
Exposition in Paris. He wanted the work to express the horrors man
can carry out on his fellow man. In April of that year German planes
under Francos? orders bombed the small village of Guernica in the
southern French Braque countryside (Schaffner, 1998). After hearing of
the total destruction caused by the attack, Picasso returned to Cubism
and completed piece Guernica. Taking influence from Goya, the
painting showed the townspeople in agony over their loss. Off to the
side a mother cries over her dead child while in the center a horse is
painfully dying. This would become his most famous painting.
Cubism redefined art in the twentieth century. It succeeded in giving

people a different perspective with which to look at reality and evoked
new emotions. Cubism set a new standard for what is accepted as a
work of art. ?Art no longer had to be aesthetically right or nice to be a
masterpiece?(Hoving, 1999). It also set the stage for other artists to
test new styles that would have been considered too unorthodox
before. Cubism truly embodied the phrase, ?art is in the eye of the
beholder.?
Bibliography
Arnheim, Rudolf. Art and Visual Perception, a psychology of the

creative eye.
Los Angelas: University of California Press, 1984.
Arnheim, Rudolf. Visual Thinking.

Los Angelas: University of California Press, 1984.
Chilvers, Ian, Harold Osborne, Dennis Farr. The Oxford Dictionary of

Art.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Hoving, Thomas. Art for Dummies.

Foster City California: IDG Books Worldwide, 1999.
Miki, Tamon. What is Cubism? The National Museum of Modern Art,

Tokyo.
www.cubistic.com. November 29,1999.
Robinson, Walter. Instant Art History, from cave art to pop art.
New York: Bryon Press Visual Publications, 1995.
Schaffner, Ingrid. The Essential Picasso.
New York: Harry

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P

Before the twentieth century, art was recognized as an imitation of

Picasso, together with Braque, presented a new style of painting

Cubism was divided into two categories. Analytical Cubism, beginning

Around 1912, Analytical Cubism reached a point where it threatened

The start of World War I marked the decline in Cubism in Europe.

Cubism redefined art in the twentieth century. It succeeded in giving

Arnheim, Rudolf. Art and Visual Perception, a psychology of the

Arnheim, Rudolf. Visual Thinking.

Chilvers, Ian, Harold Osborne, Dennis Farr. The Oxford Dictionary of

Hoving, Thomas. Art for Dummies.

Miki, Tamon. What is Cubism? The National Museum of Modern Art,

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