CUBISM-1907-1925Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

What is Cubism

It was a major art movement formed by Picasso and G. Braque around 1907.

In Cubism, they tried to break the representation of the image into geometric shapes.

French critic Louis Vauxcelles first used the term ‘Cubism’ or bizarre cubiques in 1908 after seeing the work of Braque.

Important points about Cubism Cubism was invented around 1907 in Paris by Pablo Picasso

and Georges Braque.

Cubism was the first abstract style of modern art.

A Cubist painting ignores the traditions of perspective drawing and shows you many views of a subject at one time.

The Cubists introduced collage into painting.

The Cubists were influenced by art from other cultures, particularly African masks.

There are two distinct phases of the Cubist Style: Analytical Cubism (pre 1912) and Synthetic Cubism (post 1912)

Cubism influenced many other styles of modern art including Orphism, Futurism, Constructivism and Expressionism.

Pablo Picasso He was a talented and a gifted child with

artistic talent. He first visited Paris in 1900 and later

became the leader of Parisian avant-garde. The period from 1901-04 is known ad the

Blue Period in which he painted themes with sad and melancholic subjects in Blue tones.

His mood lightened and he shifted to pink tones in 1905 which became the Rose period in 1905-07.

Then was the Negro period, 1907-09, in which he studied the African art and also was inspired from the work of Cezanne.

It was this period that led to the development of CUBISM.

Picasso had many relationships with women , which profoundly affected his development as an artist.

Undoubtedly, his remarkable versatlity and endless flow of ideas meant that he had a hand in almost every artistic development of the 20th century.

Between 1900 to 14, many ideas and innovations took shape defining the 20th cent.

Cubism was a truly revolutionary style of modern art developed by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. It was the first style of abstract art which evolved at the beginning of the 20th century in response to a world that was changing with unprecedented speed. Cubism was an attempt by artists to revitalise the tired traditions of Western art which they believed had run their course. The Cubists challenged conventional forms of representation, such as perspective, which had been the rule since the Renaissance. Their aim was to develop a new way of seeing which reflected the modern age.

In the four decades from 1870-1910, western society witnessed more technological progress than in the previous four centuries. During this period inventions such as photography, cinematography, sound recording, the telephone, the motor car and the airplane heralded the dawn of a new age. The problem for artists at this time was how to reflect the modernity of the era using the tired and trusted traditions that had served art for the last four centuries. Photography had begun to replace painting as the tool for documenting the age and for artists to sit illustrating cars, planes and images of the new technologies was not exactly rising to the challenge. Artists needed a more radical approach - a 'new way of seeing' that expanded the possibilities of art in the same way that technology was extending the boundaries of communication and travel. This new way of seeing was called Cubism - the first abstract style of modern art. Picasso and Braque developed their ideas on Cubism around 1907 in Paris and their starting point was a common interest in the later paintings of Paul Cézanne.

The influence of African Art on Cubism

Click icon to add picturePablo Picasso (1881-1973)Left: Head of a Woman, (oil on canvas, 1907) Right: Dan Mask

The Cubists believed that the traditions of Western art had become exhausted and another remedy they applied to revitalize their work was to draw on the expressive energy of art from other cultures, especially African art. However, they were not interested in the true religious or social symbolism of these cultural objects, but valued them superficially for their expressive style.

Two Phases of Cubism Cubism had two distinct phases. The early

phase which lasted until about 1912 was called Analytical Cubism. Here the artist analysed the subject from many different viewpoints and reconstructed it within a geometric framework, the overall effect of which was to create an image that evoked a sense of the subject. These fragmented images were unified by the use of a subdued and limited palette of colours.

Synthetic Cubism Around 1912, the styles of Picasso and Braque were

becoming predictable. Their images had grown so similar that their paintings of this period are often difficult to tell apart. Their work was increasingly abstract and less recognisable as the subject of their titles. Cubism was running out of creative steam. In an attempt to revitalise the style and pull it back from total abstraction, Picasso began to glue printed images from the 'real world' onto the surface of his still lifes. His painting 'Still Life with Chair Caning', was the first example of this 'collage' technique and it opened the door for himself and other artists to the second phase of the Cubist style: Synthetic Cubism.

Braque- ‘Violin with a jug’ 1910

Picasso-’ Still life with chair canning’oil, 1912

CUBISM- Collage Cubism & Facet Cubism Collage Cubism- 1912 Experimented by Picasso and Braque Pasted, cut material used on the

surface and only few lines added to complete the design.

It came to be called as COLLAGE. Distinct element was- space was not

created by foreshortening or perspective ,but by actual overlapping of layers of pasted material.

Analyatic Cubism Influenced by the introduction of bold and simple

collage shapes, Synthetic Cubism moved away from the unified monochrome surfaces of Analytic Cubism to a more direct, colourful and decorative style. Although synthetic cubist images appear more abstract in their use of simplified forms, the other elements of their composition are applied quite traditionally. Interchanging lines, colours, patterns and textures, that switch from geometric to freehand, dark to light, positive to negative and plain to patterned, advance and recede in rhythms across the picture plain.

Analytic Cubism

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)Still Life with Mandolin and Guitar (oil on canvas, 1924)

Cubism and Picasso It is important to fully realize the importance of

cubism. It isn't just "Picasso's style" but marks the real beginning of abstract art. Picasso's predecessors, such as the impressionists, the fauvists and Cezanne were still principally tied to nature as a model to elaborate on. With ‘Les Demoiselles d'Avignon’ Picasso reached a level of abstraction that was a radical enough break with the classical dominance of content over form, a hierarchy which is reversed in Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and the style which followed from it: Cubism.

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon, and originally titled The Brothel of Avignon

Artist Pablo PicassoYear 1907Type Oil on canvasDimensions243.9 cm × 233.7 cm (96 in × 92 in)Location Museum of Modern Art. Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest, New York City

The work portrays five nude female prostitutes from a brothel on Carrer d'Avinyó (Avinyó Street) in Barcelona. Each figure is depicted in a disconcerting confrontational manner and none are conventionally feminine. The women appear as slightly menacing and rendered with angular and disjointed body shapes. Two are shown with African mask-like faces and three more with faces in the Iberian style of Picasso's native Spain, giving them a savage aura. In this adaptation of Primitivism and abandonment of perspective in favor of a flat, two-dimensional picture plane, Picasso makes a radical departure from traditional European painting. The work is widely considered to be seminal in the early development of both cubism and modern art. Demoiselles was revolutionary and controversial, and led to wide anger and disagreement, even amongst his closest associates and friends.

Painted in Paris during the summer of 1907, Picasso had created hundreds of sketches and studies in preparation for the final work.[3][4] He long acknowledged the importance of Spanish art and Iberian sculpture as influences on the painting. The work is believed by critics to be influenced by African tribal masks and the art of Oceania, although Picasso denied the connection; many art historians remain skeptical about his denials.

CONCLUSION

Thus we can say without doubt that Pablo Picasso was one of the most famous painter of the 20th century.

Modern art owes a lot to the vision and the experimental creative energy of this genius of our times.

He has about 15000 paintings, 660 sculptures, countless drawings, graphics and ceramics to his credit.

Picasso can be said to be the most productive artist in the whole history of art