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The Origin of Cubism

Ever since the Renaissance, if not before, artists painted pictures from a single

fixed viewpoint, as if they were taking a photograph. The illusion of background

depth was created using standard conventions of linear perspective (eg. objects

were shown smaller as they receded) and by painting figures and objects with

rounded shaded surfaces to convey a 3-D effect. In addition, the scene or object

was painted at a particular moment in time.

In contrast, Braque and Picasso thought that the full significance of an object

could only be captured by showing it from multiple points of view and at

different times. So, they abandoned the idea of a single fixed viewpoint and

instead used a multiplicity of viewpoints. The object was then reassembled out

of fragments of these different views, rather like a complex jigsaw puzzle. In this

way, many different views of an object were simultaneously depicted in the

same picture. Such fragmentation and rearrangement of form meant that a

painting could now be regarded less as a kind of window on the world and more

as a physical object on which a subjective response to the world is created.

Cubist works are immediately recognizable due to their flattened, nearly two-

dimensional appearance; an inclusion of geometric angles, lines, and shapes;

and a fairly neutral colour palette. Instead of creating natural-looking 3-D

objects, Cubist painters offered a brand new set of images reassembled from 2-

D fragments which showed the objects from several sides simultaneously.

Cubists sought to depict the intellectual idea or form of an object, and its

relationship to others.

What Are the Characteristics of Cubism?

Ever since the Renaissance, if not before, artists painted pictures from a single fixed viewpoint, as if they were taking a photograph. The illusion of background depth was created using standard conventions of linear perspective (eg. objects were shown smaller as they receded) and by painting figures and objects with rounded shaded surfaces to convey a 3-D effect. In addition, the scene or object was painted at a particular moment in time.

In contrast, Braque and Picasso thought that the full significance of an object could only be captured by showing it from multiple points of view and at different times. So, they abandoned the idea of a single fixed viewpoint and

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instead used a multiplicity of viewpoints. The object was then reassembled out of fragments of these different views, rather like a complex jigsaw puzzle. In this way, many different views of an object were simultaneously depicted in the same picture. Such fragmentation and rearrangement of form meant that a painting could now be regarded less as a kind of window on the world and more as a physical object on which a subjective response to the world is created.

Cubist works are immediately recognizable due to their flattened, nearly two-dimensional appearance; an inclusion of geometric angles, lines, and shapes; and a fairly neutral colour palette. Instead of creating natural-looking 3-D objects, Cubist painters offered a brand new set of images reassembled from 2-D fragments which showed the objects from several sides simultaneously. Cubists sought to depict the intellectual idea or form of an object, and its relationship to others.

Influences

The paintings of older artist Paul Cézanne, and sculptures made by artists from non-European cultures (which Braque and Picasso saw in museums) were hugely important to the development of cubist style.

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Paul Cézanne’s paintings are made up of lots of repeated brush strokes and lots of small flat shapes (or planes). Cézanne said that he wanted his landscapes, people and objects to look solid. By showing things from different angles he was able to show that they were three-dimensional. It is this technique that influenced the younger cubist artists.

The first is by Paul Cézanne, the second by cubist Georges Braque. Do you think that Braque’s painting was inspired by Cézanne’s technique?

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Braque borrows the same colours and geometric shapes that Cézanne uses in his Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings. But here the similarity ends, for a panoramic, fixed view of the landscape is not enough for Braque. What Braque does is subordinate colour in order to attain a geometric structure of overlapping, shifting, tilted cubes that seem to project out of and into the picture plane, as though we were watching a 3-D movie. The effect that is created is not that of a single-point linear perspective, rather, that of a scene changing as it is observed from various positions. In other words, Braque was trying to record the process of seeing, and, in order to do so, he has constructed a composite of several different simultaneous views of the objects to be viewed in one synthetic moment.

A new museum called the Trocadero, opened in Paris in 1878. It displayed art and objects from countries and cultures all around the world. Picasso first visited the museum in 1907 and was amazed by what he saw there. He particularly liked the sculptures from Africa and from French Polynesia describing them as ‘the most powerful and most beautiful things the human imagination has ever produced.

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Les Demoiselles D'Avignon

Perhaps we can say that Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon ushered in a

revolutionary way of depicting reality.

This landmark painting had broken all of the traditional rules that artists at the

time followed, especially the one that defined art as imitation rather than

creation. Picasso had decided to turn his back on a fixed point of view and

harmonious proportion, concepts that had been religiously practiced since the

Renaissance. Instead, he replaced these with multiple perspectives and

distortion. Furthermore, he incorporated into his painting references to

primitive art, a practice that ran counter to the ceremonious adulation of the

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whole continuum of Western art. We can see the faces being inspired from the

African art forms.

Types of cubism

Analytic cubism

Synthetic cubism

Analytic

They appear as a busy interweaving of planes and lines with the subjects

(whether an object, person or landscape) fractured, or broken up, making them

look rather like the surface of a crystal. They are painted using a limited range

of dark colours (mainly blacks, greys). There is very little tonal differentiation

used: you don’t see lots of lights and darks. The general tone of works tends to

be muted with a similar dark tone used across the paintings.

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Chiefly characterized by a pronounced use of geometric shapes and by a

tendency toward a monochromatic use of colour.

Synthetic

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As its name implies, synthetic cubism worked on the premise of assembling out

of separate parts new forms. In this latter phase they were interested in

superimposing fragments one on top of another to simulate walls plastered with

posters as well as stacked newspaper displays at kiosks. The end results were

compositions that were simpler, brighter, and bolder which explored the

individual experiences associated with public spaces and urban recreation and

captured the new sense of simultaneity of diverse experiences-the fusion of

objects, people, machines, noises, light, smells, etc.

Three Musicians Pablo Picasso (1921)

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 200.7 x 222.9 cm

Philadelphia Museum of Art

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In 1921 three Musicians was created by Pablo Picasso as a farewell piece to Synthetic cubism. The "Three Musicians" is an interpretation of a musical group performing in a small cafe. The figures and background images are composed from a collage of different colours: blue, brown, white, Red, black and yellow. This painting is created by large geometric pieces, of what appears to be either paper or fabric, but is actually oil on canvas. These are then compiled into three surprisingly level musicians. The sharp-edged patches of colours and shapes are what help to express an unstable or rapid rhythm from the musician's evident instruments. The central figure is a Harlequin playing guitar while two other musicians sit faithfully by his side. These other two are believed to be a Pierrot and Monk. The Pierrot is featured on the left side of the painting performing with a saxophone up to his mouth. There is also a dog beneath his feet appearing to be lost within the shadows due to the definition solely in his ears, tail and feet. It appears that this painting is created by large pieces of either paper or fabric that are then cut and pasted into large geometric shapes, but the painting in fact was entirely done with oil on canvas. The ridged patches of colours and shapes are what cause people to believe that the music being played has an unstable and crooked rhythm. Everything in this painting is made up of flat shapes. Behind each musician, the light brown floor is in a different place. (Like it much extended towards left side than the right side) The floor and the flat walls makes the room lopsided (unsymmetrical),but the musicians seem steady Music Makers in Harmony; It is hard to tell where one musician starts and another stops, because the shapes that create them intersect and overlap, as if they were paper cut-outs. Cubism consists of different points of view, typically created through geometric figures, which are then complied into one complete painting. The Three Musicians, is an abstract painting in which the three figures are simplified to an arrangement of flat shapes. The artist used a variety of shapes in creating an image that resembles an interlocking jigsaw puzzle

Jean Metzinger's Tea Time (1921)

After 1909 and up into 1912 the introduction and development of a complication known as simultaneity brings Cubism into its own as a revolutionary concept. The idea behind simultaneity is simple enough. The forms in Jean Metzinger's Tea Time are broken into large facets or planes. But something else is happening too: in places these planes grow transparent in order to reveal other planes behind them; they cross and merge with these other planes. At the left a teacup and saucer are divided down their middle by a line, on one side of which they are seen head on, while on the other side they

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are seen from above. Theoretically we know more about the teacup because we see it from two angles at once, which is impossible when a teacup and saucer are represented in conventional perspective allowing a view from only one angle at a time.

Medium: Oil on cardboard

Dimensions: 75.9 x 70.2 cm

Philadelphia Museum of Art

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Metzinger's teacup demonstrates in an elementary way the device of simultaneity - the simultaneous revelation of more than one aspect of an object in an effort to express the total image. In the case of the teacup the process is simple. Elsewhere in the picture the crossing and merging transparent planes are a more complicated application of the same idea. The left half of the head, if the right half is ignored or covered up, yields a profile. At the same time, it is included in a view of the full face. The argument that we have neither a good profile nor a good full face by usual representational standards is beside the point. The Cubist is not interested in usual representational standards. It is as if he were walking around the objects he is analysing, as one is free to walk around a piece of sculpture for successive views. But he must represent all these views at once.

This is the famous "fourth dimension' in painting. For centuries painters had been satisfied to represent an illusion of three dimensions on a 2-D surface by means of a systematic distortion known as perspective. The third dimension in painting is depth by perspective; the fourth dimension is movement in depth, or time, or space-time, by the simultaneous presentation of multiple aspects of an object. A new systematic distortion is necessary for this new dimension, since the old one of perspective has been outgrown.

Conclusion

The Cubist style dominated several decades of the 20th century due to the many works by Braque, Picasso and Gris, and many other artists involved in the movement, making it a very large contribution to the development of arts in the 20th century. Ultimately Cubism is less important in its own right - as an artistic style - and more important as an indicator of what is possible in fine art. It extended the boundaries of art to include alternatives to traditional single point perspective; it demonstrated that fine art could be made out of anything, even scraps of rubbish; and it raised important questions about the nature of reality in art. It was one of the most important art movements and made significant contributions to Avant grade art in the early 20th century. In particular, Cubism influenced many other styles of modern art including Orphism, Futurism, Vorticism, Suprematism, Constructivism and Expressionism.

By

Pravesh kumar 13505

Vivek ojha 13803