Cubism & Self-portrait

“Gue

rnica

” –

Pabl

o Pic

asso

– 1

937

What is cubism? •  Cubism is an art movement that began

during the first part of the 20th century by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso.

•  Cubism are abstract representations of the real world were the artists gives complexity to the narrative of its work by studying and painting more than one plane of reality. It became distinctive by its flattened, yet dynamic, style.

During his last works Paul Cézanne explored in his paintings the idea of segmented areas within the canvas and the simplification of the objects.  

Littl

e Gi

rl w

ith D

oll

- Cé

zann

e –

190

2  

Later, this works of art became the foundations and the inspiration for what would come to be known as cubism. Paul was the spark for artist like Braque and Picasso to innovate.

Chât

eau

Noir

– C

ézan

ne –

190

0  

Many agree that the first cubist painting is Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso.

Though many other scholars say that it was George Braque’s L'Estaque series of paintings. Either way, it is undeniable that both artists changed radically the way of viewing the world.

(Hous

es a

t L'E

staq

ue –

Geo

rges

Bra

que

– 1

908)

.  

Cubism derived its name from remarks that were made by the painter Henri Matisse and the critic Louis Vauxcelles, who described Braque's 1908 work "Houses at L'Estaque" as composed of cubes.

It was the first stage of the cubist movement and one of its major branches. In this phase, the cubists “analyzed” natural forms and they reduced forms to basic geometric parts to create a two-dimensional picture plane.

ANALYTICAL CUBISM (1910/1913)

Violin

and

Hug

, Bra

que

1910

.

Color was almost non-existent and color palettes were monochromatic that included grey, blue and ochre.

Girl

with

man

dolin

, Pica

sso

1910

.

This cubism movement was characterized by the introduction of different surfaces, textures, collage elements and a great variety of merged subject matter.

SYNTHETIC CUBISM (1913/1924)

“Stil

l lif

e wi

th f

ruit

dish

and

mand

olin

” –

Juan

Gris

– 1

919

In comparison to Analytic Cubism, Synthetic Cubism is actually pushing several objects together. Less pure than Analytic Cubism, this movement has less shading, creating flatter space.

“Thr

ee M

usici

ans”

– Pa

blo

Picas

so -

192

1

In the essay Modernist Painting, Clement Greenberg, maybe the greatest art critic in history, states that the utterly most important issue of art is its flatness. He states “Because flatness was the only condition painting shared with no other art, Modernist painting oriented itself to flatness as it did to nothing else” (Greenberg, 1960).

HOW CUBISM INNOVATED Cl

emen

t Gr

eenb

erg  

What he was saying is that the only way painting differentiated itself from the other arts was because of its two dimension, rather than the volumetric nature theater or sculpture had. (Clement Greenberg)

Port

rait

of Pi

cass

o, Ju

an G

ris.

Cubism became important as it took things one-step further and began playing with the concepts of time and space. Even though it was visually flat, Cubism was all about the study of different planes, the different faces of the object as well as the change it had through time.

(Nud

e De

scen

ding

a St

airc

ase,

No.

2 –

Mar

cel

Duch

amp –

191

2).

The innovation of cubism was that it abandoned the organic forms of past movements, and it became its main objective to construct geometric spaces.

“Les

Bai

gneu

ses”

– A

lber

t Gl

eizes

– 1

912

Just like Cézanne’s impressionist paintings paved the way for cubists, Cubism paved the way for geometric abstractionism. It became the inspiration for clean lines and a whole new group of artists, such as Mondrian.

“Dan

seus

e au

caf

é” –

Jean

Met

zing

er –

191

2

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso was born was born October 25, 1881 in the city of Málaga, Spain. He was a sculptor, painter and poet best known for the co-creation of the Cubist movement and the co-creator of the collage. Probably, Picasso is the most influential artist of the 20th Century.

PABLO PICASSO

“The

Old

Gui

taris

t” –

Pabl

o Pic

asso

– 1

903

Picasso demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent in his early years, painting in a

realistic manner through his childhood and adolescence. During the first decade of the

20th century, his style changed as he experimented with different theories,

techniques, and ideas. His work is often categorized into periods.

The most commonly accepted periods in his work are: the Blue Period (1901–1904)  

“The

Blu

e Ro

om”

– Pa

blo

Picas

so –

190

1

the Rose Period (1904–1906)  

“The

Act

or”

– Pa

blo

Picas

so –

190

4

the African-influenced Period (1907–1909)  

“Le

pigeo

n au

x pe

tits

pois”

– Pa

blo

Picas

so –

191

1

Analytic Cubism (1909–1912)   “Ma

Jolie

, Nat

ure

Mort

e (M

usiq

ue)”

– Pa

blo

Picas

so –

191

3

Synthetic Cubism (1912–1919)  

“L

e Rê

ve”

– Pa

blo

Picas

so -

193

2

Picasso was baptized Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso.

FUN FACTS about picasso

His first word was "piz," short of lápiz the Spanish word for 'pencil’. Picasso was a long term friend and rival of Henri Matisse. Pablo Picasso’s first painting was completed when he was 9. .  

(Le Pi

cado

r –

Pabl

o Pic

asso

- 1

890)  

On August 21, 1911, someone stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre and turned the art world upside-down. A man came forward with a statue he'd stolen from the museum four

years earlier. He claimed to have stolen a few of them for the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who said sold them to

Picasso. The 29-year-old artist was taken to court, but after denying the theft he wasn’t charged.  

SELF-PORTRAITS

A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, sculpted, or photographed, by the artist itself. Artists have been known to use this technique since ancient times, but it is not until the Renaissance that it becomes relevant.

1940

- F

rida

Kahl

o –

Sel

f-po

rtra

it

People like Leonardo Da Vinci used them as a self-exploration method, either as a way to understand anatomy or to understand themselves. During this period it became a common practice for the artist to insert its own image into their larger works, such as Caravaggio and Raphael.  

1656

- D

iego

Velá

zque

z -

“Las

Men

inas

”

Yet, some scholars agree that self-portraits might have risen to fame because it was cheaper for the artist to paint itself than to hire a model. Either way, self-portraits came to be very important during the course of art evolution. Artists such as Rembrandt and Van Gogh dedicated most of their works to the study of their selves.

19

06 -

Hen

ri Ma

tisse

– “

Self

Port

rait

in a

Str

ipped

T-S

hirt”

16

60 -

Rem

bran

dt -

“Se

lf Po

rtra

it wi

th T

wo C

ircle

s”

Van Gogh even said once in a letter to his brother “In Rembrandt's portraits...it is more than nature, it is a kind of revelation”. Other artist, such as Frida Kahlo, used self-portraits in a therapeutic way, a way to express their inner turmoil.

1889

- V

ince

nt V

an G

ogh

– “

Self

-Por

trai

t”

It is also important to mention that the self-portrait has to contain human figure to be considered one, even in some kind of abstract form. In

spite of this, some scholars have mentioned the existence of some metaphorical self-portraits, as they say the painting becomes an

abstract representation of the artist’s emotions. Some of the examples that might fit this description might be the works of Pollock or Rothko.

(Aut

umn

Rhyt

hm –

Jack

son

Poll

ock

– 1

950)

Now days, the self-portraits of past artists help us understand in some way the thoughts and their psyche. These

works of art are visual representations of the way they saw themselves or the way they wanted to be seen.

It is a self-exploration, a self-study, of their identity. And this is why now days it is still a relevant exercise

within all the realms of art, as it is the first step for any artist to discover who they are and what they want their

work to say about them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/27/self-portrait-culture-history-james-hall-review-profoundly-human http://userpages.umbc.edu/~ivy/selfportrait/back.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-portrait http://visforvintage.net/2013/04/13/the-importance-of-cubism/ http://www.theartstory.org/movement-cubism.htm http://emptyeasel.com/2007/10/17/what-is-cubism-an-introduction-to-the-cubist-art-movement-and-cubist-painters/ http://www.academia.edu/218047/Clement_Greenberg_Art_and_Culture http://www.theartstory.org/critic-greenberg-clement.htm http://www.theartstory.org/definition-flatness.htm http://arthistory.about.com/od/glossary_a/a/a_analytic_cubism.htm http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernarthistory/a/cubism_10one.htm http://www.pablopicasso.org/picasso-facts.jsp#prettyPhoto http://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-picasso http://www.pablopicasso.org/index.jsp