Nadia Rotankova 2 April 2010

Cubism
The beginning of 20th century was a time of discoveries of new technology, introducing a
new lifestyle, and new ideas. During that time, there were new creations, such as cars, radio, and
telegraph. Such inventions affected masses of people. The way of life became quicker, and
communication – much easier. Many people, who were affected greatly by such changes,
thought up of new ideas concerning the society in many different aspects.
Such a new lifestyle was called the avantgarde. The meaning of the word ‘avantgarde’ is
‘the frontline’ (it is an army term). Here, it meant that it was the beginning of a new era, the first
‘wave’ of new technology. The first avantgarde movement was in art, and it was called cubism.
Cubism took place around 1907-1915, mainly in France and Spain. The brand new
feature of cubist art works that the painting did not depend on its subject anymore. That means
that it was not as important anymore what was represented: the main point was on how it was
done. The intension of the cubist artists was to produce a well-constructed composition of
different elements, and basically show how they know the object. The technique of cubists
involved several different steps: first, the artist had to study the object, and examine different
points of view on it. Then, he had to ‘dissect’ the object, picking different visions of different
parts. Finally, the artist would insert different parts of the object into the painting, creating a
complete composition. The main elements of art applied to cubist art are texture and shape.
A cubist composition does not necessarily have to be a painting. In fact, a popular
technique was called ‘assemblage’. The artists used to combine different materials, for example,
wood, cardboard and paper, into one composition. Another type, called papièr collé, was a
collage of different kinds of paper. Such techniques were used because it was helpful to overlap
different pieces. Cubist art works did not resemble the reality at all. They were representing
something (for example, an object, or a modeled scene), but not showing it in a way that we see
it. Cubist artists would extend their imagination, creating views that can not be seen in real life.
The modeling for cubism was one thing that was back to classical art. For impressionism
and expressionism, the artists simply drew what they had in front of their eyes, very often – a
landscape. However, in cubism, you can find people modeling again.
The palette in cubism was very restricted. In a cubist composition, you can find very few
colors. There are rarely different shades of one color. The colors have to match each other so that
they look nice, simple and clear in one piece of art work. In fact, the colors are as important as
composition (although it is not one of the main elements of art, since there are very few colors).
 The artist that is said to have been the first person to draw cubism was Pablo Picasso.
Picasso was Spanish, however, he produced his first cubist painting in France, Avignon. He
moved to Paris to search for people who would buy his art works. Picasso later became famous
and produced many art pieces in cubist style. He survived the First World War. After the war,
Picasso did not do as much art works in cubist style as before, however, he still continued.
Picasso traveled to Italy, which affected his imagination and provoked him to create some of his
art pieces. He started painting in the style of classicism. Later in life, Picasso also made
ceramics. He survived the Second World War, too, and continued to make art works for the rest
of his life.
Picasso worked in collaboration with Georges Braque. Georges Braque, who was also
French, moved to Paris in 1900. He was influenced by Paul Cezanne’s art, even though Braque
never was an impressionist. He was not primarily a cubist, but a fauvist. When Georges Braque
met Picasso, he decided to leave fauvism. It is said that Picasso and Braque were the first
developers of cubism. Later in life, Braque designed stage sets, and also made sculptures. He
survived both the First World War and the Second World War.
Another famous cubist was Juan Gris. He, like Picasso and Braque, worked in France,
even though he was Spanish. He was not only an artist, but also a mathematician and a physicist,
but he enjoyed painting the most. Gris did not start drawing cubism as early as Pablo Picasso and
Georges Braque: he first worked as a magazine illustrator, and started painting cubism and
making collages in 1910. Later, Gris went back to painting in style of classicism.
The first cubist painting was ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ by Pablo Picasso. He painted
it in a French town Avignon, but traveled to Paris to search for people who would buy it. This art
piece presents a few naked models and a still life composition. Before, during expressionism and
impressionism, you could not find any naked people posing, however, back in classical period,
there were many. This painting is in one sense going back in time to classical art, and in the same
time it is very futuristic by the way it is drawn. Also, it was the first painting that was made for
the purpose of its technique. On two of the models you can see African masks. Picasso had a
collection of these, so he decided to put them on two of the women. African masks were
common between the expressionists because of the way they are carved, and since they have
many shapes, Pablo Picasso found them to work well for cubism, too.
There are also some fruits on the bottom of the composition. That, once again, proves that
it does not matter what you draw in cubism – the fruits do not have any in that significance in
that painting, but their technique fits.
Another famous Cubist painting was ‘Violin and Guitar’, again by Pablo Picasso. Picasso
had his own violin. He liked drawing them because they have so many different shapes. You can
see that Picasso took different images of points of view on the violin, along with different shapes
that can be observed (for example, the F-holes). The shapes are overlapping. Also, the palette is
reduced in this painting: there are only a few colors (shades of brown and blue, red, green and
white).
Juan Gris made a portrait of Picasso, also in the style of cubism. There are diagonal lines
going through the painting, and Picasso seems to be cut by them. Picasso does not seem realistic
at all, but we can still recognize that it is a person. The hair is made of individual shapes, lines
and shades. Picasso is sitting in this composition. He seems to have something in his hand, but it
is impossible to recognize what. The palette is reduced here, too, and all of the composition is in
different shades of grey. There is not one complete shape, and the background is bisected by the
lines. The jacket is also made up of different shapes, and the shading is not realistic.
Georges Braque made another famous painting. It is called ‘Man with a Guitar’. It is
quite different to Picasso’s and Gris’s cubism. This painting has many more shapes and lines,
and, unlike Gris’s and Picasso’s paintings, it is impossible to recognize anything in Braque’s.
There are more lines than shapes, and the lines are without any order or pattern. You can not see
individual objects, and not even outlines. There is almost no color in that painting except few
shades of grey. This painting has even less variety of colors than these of Picasso and Gris. There
are many angles in the ‘Man with a Guitar’. However, this painting is still in the style of cubism
and not abstract: there are overlapping shapes, and a dissected man and guitar. Unlike abstract
art, in this image, there is representation.
Another painting, created by a different artist, Lyonel Feininger, is called ‘Gaberndorf II’.
Lyonel Feininger was German, and the painting was made in 1924, so it was not in the time and
place when cubism was the most popular, however, it is done in the style of cubism. Feininger’s
cubism is quiet different from that of Picasso, Braque and Gris. His painting actually reminds us
of real life. What the artist did was: he took the image, then dissected it, and then overlapped the
pieces; however, he did not take individual shapes of the roofs, windows, doors, etc. You can
observe that there are still very few colors – only green, blue, brown, white, and some yellow.
There are different shapes over the main image, and those shapes are shaded in different colors.
There are also many shades in that painting, but the light is not realistic. The composition is
really simple, but the way the shapes are overlapping make the view nice and not as simple as it
seems.
Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907, 243.9 x 233.7 cm, oil on canvass, MoMa –
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
 Pablo Picasso, Violin and Guitar,
1913, 65.5x54.3 cm, oil on
canvass, The Hermitage, St.
Petersburg, Russia

Juan Gris, Portrait of Picasso,

1912, Oil on canvas, 93.4 x 74.3 cm;
Collection of Mrs. and Mrs. Leigh
Block, Art Institute of Chicago (DC
13)

Georges Braque, Man with a Guitar, 1911-12, oil

on canvass, 16.2 x 80.9 cm, – The Museum of
Modern Art, New York
 Lyonel Feininger, Gaberndorf II, 1924, The Museum of
Modern Art, New York

Bibliography
www.metmuseum.org
Last updated in 2010

www.artcyclopedia.com
Last updated in 2007

http://moma.org/
Last updated in 2010

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/
Last updated in 2010