1. CUBISM
1907-1921

2. Louis Vauxcelles, art critic – on seeing Georges Braque’s
exhibition at the Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler Gallery in 1908.
"M. Braque scorns form and reduces everything,
sites, figures and houses, to geometric schemas
and cubes."

3. What is Cubism?
 An influential avant-garde art movement in the
early 20th century.
 Cubist painters rejected the traditional concept
that art should be a direct representation or
‘copy’ of nature. They ignored traditional
techniques such as natural perspectives,
modelling and foreshortening.
 The Cubist manner of painting heavily reduced
and fractured objects into geometric lines,
forms and shapes.

4. Context: A New World Era
 The early 20th century marked CHANGE.
 Major discoveries in science and technology (e.g.
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity)
 Advancements in transport (e.g. First airplane
flight)
 Imperialism (Africa, Asia and the Pacific region)
 WWI – devastation, fear, doubt, less confidence
etc.
 The Atomic Age
 There was increasing demand for art that could be
enjoyed by the general public and not only the
elites.
 Picasso and Braque reacted to these changes
with a new artistic style = Cubism

5. What influenced Cubism?
 Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906)
 Cézanne (1904) – artists should treat nature
“in terms of the cylinder, the sphere and the
cone.”
 Georges Seurat (French, 1859-1891)
 Primitivism and non-Western art, especially
Iberian sculptures and African art.
 Fauvism
 Avant-gardism and Modernism in Europe

6. How did Cubism develop?
 There were two stages of
Cubism:
1. Analytic Cubism –
(“based more on intellect
than emotion”). The style
was ‘less literal and more
conceptual’ i.e.
fragmenting into angles,
lines and shapes.
2. Synthetic Cubism –
collage – The artists
attached bits of newspaper,
cloth and other objects on
the paintings.

7. Key Cubist Artists
 Pablo Picasso
 Georges Braque
Cubism was developed by these artists.
Other Cubist artists were..
 Juan Gris
 Jean Metzinger

8. Pablo Picasso

9. A girl (Fanny Tellier) plays the mandolin, which is a plucked string
instrument.
Girl with a Mandolin, Picasso, 1910, Oil on canvas

10. In the upper centre of the picture are what seem to be the neck and opening of a bottle. Some spidery
black lines to the left of it might denote sheet music, and the round shape lower down, the base of a glass.
In the center, at the far right, is the pointed spout of a porrón (Spanish wine bottle). This is one of the first
works in which Picasso included letter forms. It has been suggested that the ones shown at the left, LETR,
refer to Le Torero, the magazine for bullfighting fans—Picasso being one of them—but they might simply
be a pun on lettre, French for "word.” [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/ho_1999.363.63.htm}
Still Life with a Bottle of Rum, Picasso, 1911, Oil on
canvas

11. The Accordionist, Picasso, 1911, Oil on
canvas

12. There are clear shapes of objects: newspaper, a slice of pie, a lemon, a
knife and a goblet. The brushstrokes seem to ‘hover’ on top of the caning.
Still Life with Chair Caning, Picasso

13. By 1906, Braque was a member of the Fauves.
After seeing Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon
in an exhibition, he joined Picasso. In 1907 the two
artists began working together to develop a new
style.
Georges Braque

14. Man with a Guitar, Braque, 1911, Oil on
canvas

15. “…fragments of sky interplay with broken planes of green vegetation,
earthy fields and warm rooftops…light comes from conflicting sources.”
Roads near L’ Estaque, Braque, 1908, Oil on
canvas

16. Juan Gris
Still life with Fruit Dish and Mandolin, 1919

17. On the simulated wood-grain table rest three playing cards, a violin, and the newspaper Le
Journal. The violin is indicated by different shaded passages of wood-graining, as also by
the instrument's purple, green, and black "shadows." Black, sky blue, and purple angular
planes enrich the composition, which is set against a deep rust-red diamond-patterned
background emulating the wallpaper.
[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/11/eusi/ho_1996.403.14.htm]
Violin and Playing Cards, Gris, 1913, Oil on
canvas

18. Cubist Style of Painting
 Picasso and Braque shared an almost identical style during “high”
Analytic Cubism (1910-12). “Paintings from this time lack the
elements of light, atmosphere and space that give depth and
richness to the natural world.”
 Subject matter: From immediate surroundings based on life in the
‘new’ modern era.
 Colour: Muted, mostly monochromatic browns and greys; not
important to the picture. More focus is placed on form and structure.
 Form: Figures and objects have been reduced, fractured and
dissected into geometric elements – angles, lines, arcs, shapes etc.
The ‘technical’ and abstracted forms create a distinct sense of
movement in the overall image. There are still recognisable objects
that help the viewer understand the painting. Picasso and Braque
reduced the objects to their basic planes and angles and then
reassembled them in a shallow, ambiguous space. The fragments
overlap, forming geometric patterns, which suggest a representation

19. Cubist Style of Painting (cont’d)
 Perspective: Picasso and Braque felt that the most accurate
representation of reality in painting was one that revealed
multiple viewpoints of an object at the same time.
 Media & Techniques: With Synthetic Cubism, artists
collaged using different materials. Instead of reproducing the
look of the materials, they used the actual materials
themselves.
 Motifs: contemporary still life with musical instruments,
bottles, glasses, newspapers, playing cards and the human
face and figure. These reflect on everyday life, especially the
social and relaxing aspects (e.g. food, leisure). Cubism was
about looking beyond the literal form of these contemporary
motifs from an intellectual perspective.
 Gris developed ‘a colourful Cubist style of broad, angular,
overlapping planes.’ His use of light and modelling forms
were more naturalistic and descriptive.

20. What Art Critics Say
 “At first glance, Cubism appears to be a
purposeful distortion of visual experience, as if the
artists have consciously tried to shatter and
splinter their subjects into an incredibly cramped
space. But this is only partially true, and is more a
result of visual priorities than outright mischief.”
Art: Context and Criticism, John Kissick (1993)
 “…perhaps the most pivotal movement in Western
Art since the Renaissance…Cubism would forever
change the way artists represented the world
around them.”
Movements in Art: Cubism, Shannon Robinson (2006)