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Cubism
PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)
'Factory, Horta de Ebbo', 1909 (oil on canvas
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Cubism
Cubism was a truly revolutionary styleof modern art developed by Pablo Picasso andGeorges Braques.
It was the first style of abstract art whichevolved at the beginning of the 20th century.
In cubism, traditional ideas of painting such asproportions and perspective were abandonedin favour of a minds eye or total view of an
object.
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Cubism
PAUL CZANNE (1839-1906)'Bibemus Quarry', 1895 (oil on canvas)
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The Cubist Vision
Cubists argued that the mind sees an object from manydifferent viewpoints simultaneously and can hold allthese in the memory to create what we know as theobject.
When seen from above or below or from behind or tothe side, the mind can put all these viewpoints togethersimultaneously to recognize an object.
Perspective had been used in painting since the 15thcentury to reproduce a three dimensional image on a twodimensional canvas.
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The Cubist Vision
This wasnt enough for the cubists who wanted tocapture the notion of several viewpoints at once tocreate a multi dimensional image on a two dimensionalcanvas. They wanted a total view, a multi dimensional
view.
There were two stages of cubism, first came SyntheticCubism between 1907-1911 followed by AnalyticCubism 1912-1921. Although artists continued working
in the cubist style, around this time the vitality of themovement petered out. The Surrealist movement camealong and gradually replaced it.
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The Cubists
Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque conceived anddeveloped Cubism but other artists also adopted the style.
The Spanish artist Juan Gris, who is often referred to as
the 'Third Musketeer of Cubism', was the best of theseand he refined the Cubist vocabulary into his owninstantly recognizable visual language.
ther notable artists associated with Cubism were FernandLeger, Robert Delaunay, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger,Louis Marcoussis, Marie Laurencin and Roger de LaFresnaye.
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The Influence of African Art
LEFT: Pablo Picasso, 'Head of a Woman', 1907 (oil on canvas)
RIGHT: Dan Mask from West Africa
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The Influence of African Art
The Cubists believed that the traditions of Western arthad become exhausted and another remedy they appliedto revitalize their work was to draw on the expressiveenergy of art from other cultures, especially African art.
However, they were not interested in the true religiousor social symbolism of these cultural objects, but valuedthem superficially for their expressive style.
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The Influence of African Art
They viewed them as subversive elements that could beused to attack and subsequently refresh the tiredtradition of Western art. This inspiration to cross-reference art from different cultures probably came
from Paul Gauguin, the French post-impressionist artist,whose paintings and prints were influenced by the nativeculture of Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands where hespent his final years.
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Analytical Cubism
GEORGES BRAQUE (1882-1963)
'Violin and Jug', 1910 (oil on canvas)
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Analytical Cubism
Cubism had two distinct phases. The early phase whichlasted until about 1912 was called Analytical Cubism.
Here the artist analyzed the subject from many differentviewpoints and reconstructed it within a geometricframework, the overall effect of which was to create animage that evoked a sense of the subject.
These fragmented images were unified by the use of asubdued and limited palette of colours.
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Synthetic Cubism
PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)
'Still Life with Chair Caning', 1912 (oil on canvas)
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Synthetic Cubism
Around 1912, the styles of Picasso and Braque werebecoming predictable. Their images had grown so similarthat their paintings of this period are often difficult to tellapart.
Their work was increasingly abstract and less recognizableas the subject of their titles. Cubism was running out ofcreative steam. In an attempt to revitalise the style and
pull it back from total abstraction, Picasso began to glueprinted images from the 'real world' onto the surface ofhis still lifes.
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Synthetic Cubism
His painting 'Still Life with Chair Caning was the first
example of this 'collage' technique and it opened thedoor for himself and other artists to the second phase ofthe Cubist style: Synthetic Cubism
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Synthetic Cubism
Influenced by the introduction of bold and simplecollage shapes, Synthetic Cubism moved away from theunified monochrome surfaces of Analytic Cubism to amore direct, colorful and decorative style.
Although synthetic cubist images appear more abstractin their use of simplified forms, the other elements oftheir 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 andrecede in rhythms across the picture plain.
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Synthetic Cubism
PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)
'Still Life with mandolin and Guitar', 1924 (oil on canvas)
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Beyond Cubism
UMBERTO BOCCIONI (1882-1916)
'Dynamism of a Soccer Player', 1913 (oil on canvas)
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Beyond Cubism
Cubism was born in France but emigrated across Europeand integrated with the artistic consciousness of severalcountries. It emerged as Futurism in Italy (illustratedabove),
Vorticism in England, Suprematism and Constructivism inRussia, and Expressionism in Germany. It also influencedseveral of the major design and architectural styles of the
20th century and prevails to this day as mode ofexpression in the language of art.
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Beyond Cubism
PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)
'Weeping Woman', 1937 (oil on canvas)
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Bibliography
http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-cubism.htm
http://www.artgenius.co.uk/facts%20about%20cubism.html
http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htmhttp://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htmhttp://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-cubism.htmhttp://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-cubism.htmhttp://www.artgenius.co.uk/facts%20about%20cubism.htmlhttp://www.artgenius.co.uk/facts%20about%20cubism.htmlhttp://www.artgenius.co.uk/facts%20about%20cubism.htmlhttp://www.artgenius.co.uk/facts%20about%20cubism.htmlhttp://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-cubism.htmhttp://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-cubism.htmhttp://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-cubism.htmhttp://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-cubism.htmhttp://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-cubism.htmhttp://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htmhttp://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm7/30/2019 Abishek Cubism
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