Cubism: summary, characteristics and exponents. Origins of cubism, evolution, authors and main works of the artistic movement.
Cubism: summary and characteristics
Cubism is an artistic movement of the 20th century that originates from the activity of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque . This new current revolutionized the way in which subjects, reality, were represented since the Renaissance , and had a strong influence on the artistic development of the 20th century. Cubist painters, instead of faithfully describing what surrounded them, broke down reality into planes and geometric forms, synthesizing in a single composition different points of view, which in reality could not be adopted simultaneously.
This style breaks with traditional perspective representations, proposing a fragmented and geometric vision of reality. Objects, people and landscapes are broken down into essential shapes, such as cubes, spheres and cylinders, which allow different angles to be represented simultaneously. Cubism has had a profound impact not only on painting, but also on architecture, sculpture and literature, influencing modern art in a lasting way.
This new and revolutionary approach to Cubist painting was profoundly influenced by the knowledge of African and Oceanian tribal art, with their lack of attention to the realistic rendering of poses and the human figure, and by the work of Cézanne , a post- impressionist painter who gave prominence to the geometric structures of the surrounding reality.
The term Cubism was first used by the critic Louis Vauxcelles who, reviewing some of Braque’s works exhibited in 1908, highlighted that they were made up of cubes.
The phases
Cubism can be divided into two phases :
- Analytical Cubism (1909-1910), characterised by the accentuated fragmentation of planes and geometric forms, which appear almost dissolved, and by the use of dull colours and monochrome compositions;
- Synthetic Cubism , which developed from 1912 onwards, brought about a partial recovery of colour and forms, now completely detached from the traditional spatial conception.
In addition to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who worked closely together from 1907 until the outbreak of the First World War , other adherents of Cubism included Albert Gleizes, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp , Roger de La Fresnaye and Juan Gris. The Cubist style was also applied to sculpture by Picasso, Raymond Duchamp -Villon, Jacques Lipchitz, Aleksandr Archipenko, Maurice de Vlaminck and Lyonel Feininger.
There were also two books that contributed to the theoretical affirmation of the movement: Cubism (1912) by Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger, and Cubist Painters (1913) by Guillaume Apollinaire .
Picasso’s Cubism
For Picasso , therefore, art must create something new, which does not belong to reality. He makes a distinction between what is true and what is plausible. The cubist style representation is born from instinct , as children do for example when they draw the various faces of the house. Picasso said that when he was young he drew very well and that it took him some time to “learn” to draw like a child.
In the painting Les d’ émoiselles d’Avignon , for example , the model on the right is seen from behind but her face is represented, because she turned while posing. Reality is broken down into elementary volumes.
Picasso’s periods
The blue period in Picasso’s painting was born from the depression caused by the death of his friend Casagemas. A melancholic tone prevails, cold colors tending towards blue and brown. Blue prevails and he represents marginalized subjects because through these subjects it is easier to express his melancholic state of mind. After the blue period the cold tones fade and he moves on to the pink period : the sign becomes more incisive and synthetic. The tones change, warmer and linked to light. The pink period is a personally serene moment also thanks to the relationship that Picasso has with Fernande Olivier.
