Cubism

Cubism refers to an original and radical art form that was developed in the early twentieth century. Its paintings challenged the traditional portrayal of a subject from a clear and defined angle that had been the norm from the time of the Renaissance. Cubists proposed that sight and memory of an item are made up from much more than a still life seen from one viewpoint; rather it can be observed from top, bottom, side, or from all of them as the eye roves over the subject. Cubists attempted to portray this in their paintings, by not conforming to the constraints they perceived in being bound by painting according to the existing style, which placed primacy on perspective and clear dimension. To accomplish this, they would "break" the subjects of the painting into pieces and then put them back together again without any regard to its natural form or placement. An object would be fragmented almost beyond recognition, take on brand new proportions, and could be on top of or going through another in a striking and unpredictable manner.

Brief History

The period known as cubism lasted a relatively short time but was considered revolutionary and had a major effect on many periods of art following it. It started in 1907 when Pablo Picasso, who was living in Paris at the time, became acquainted with the French painter Georges Braque. After sharing ideas of how to create images uninhibited by such domestic concerns as realistic figures and form, they exhibited the product of their deliberation and took the world of art by storm. Braque's exhibit at Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler's gallery in November 1908 inspired the French art critic Louis Vauxcelles to comment on the paintings’ "bizarreries cubiques," and thus the movement became known as cubism. The first stage of cubism became known as analytic cubism, meaning that the object was analyzed and broken up before being reassembled block by block from various angles. During this period, the subject of the painting was usually discernable. Beginning in 1910, the subjects had become more difficult to detect, as the paintings had become more abstracted. This period was known as "high" or hermetic analytic cubism. In the winter of 1912, Picasso tried something completely new by experimenting with papiers collés, pasting colored or printed paper on his artwork, giving texture and a three-dimensional image to his creations. Thus began the period of synthetic cubism. In Paris, Cubism had become somewhat of a hit among noted artists, among them Robert Delaunay, Albert Gleizes, and Jaun Gris, but the general public was altogether uninspired by their avant garde paintwork. In 1911, these artists created the Section d'Or or Golden Section to display their work and show how cubism was not at odds with the accepted "golden" rules of art and, in fact, did concur with the golden mean, namely, that of mathematics, order, and proportion similar to that of the natural world. By the early 1920s, cubism had run its course and paved the way for even more radical forms of art.

Overview

The early twentieth century was a time of cataclysmic change. A new age had begun heralding unprecedented advances in science, medicine, and technology. New complex inventions and machinery had taken the place of the previously boring and menial. The telephone, motor car, photo and sound recording showed that there was more to the world than met the naked eye. Seemingly endless opportunity arose breaking the old perceived boundaries of space and time. The cubists were a product of the times and attempted to capture all of this. Their abstractness was to show that reality had more depth and could not be caught in just a glance or in a traditional still life on canvas. The cubists broke the subject into parts to convey the importance of each part making up the whole and, at times, exaggerated object placement or form—even grotesquely—to convey a bold message. Furthermore, whereas in the past, a painting consisted of a subject or landscape paired with a less emphasized background, the cubists tended to have the subject and background free flow in an indiscriminate manner. Cubism was a reflection of the world at large, challenging the old accepted order. It was called the "total emancipation" of painting by Le Fauconnier, and its abrupt style was thought to be unprecedented. In truth, Picasso was probably influenced by pre-Roman Iberian sculpture from his native Spain as well as African and Oceanic art he had seen in an exhibit in an anthropological museum. These ancient forms contained simple features, though not necessarily realistic. Many times parts were grossly enlarged and exaggerated for effect. In Western art, these genres were generally ignored or unknown. Picasso blended these styles with his own fragmented one to great effect. His emphatic shapes could not be ignored. His attempts at breaking free from the shackles of the traditional right-angled forms of the previous masters, led to experimentation with colored paper glued to the canvas to give real texture and added effect. Cubism was ever changing and not bound by any constraints. Picasso is generally seen as the father of cubism, though some experts have contended that it was the brainchild of Braque. Fairly or not, Picasso's star rose due to the popularity of his cubist paintings, chief among them one entitled Guernica, depicting the ravages of the Spanish civil war, which shook Picasso greatly. Picasso created over twenty thousand paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, theater sets, and costumes and made a fortune from his creations in his lifetime. He had come a long way from being a poor destitute cubist painter in Paris. A 1957 retrospective of Picasso's work in New York’s Museum of Modern Art drew over one hundred thousand visitors in the first month, making him one of the most well-known artists of all time. The effect of his works in general, and his cubist ones specifically, on ensuing art styles is undeniable. Modern movements such as Orphism, futurism, Vorticism, suprematism, constructivism, and expressionism were all influenced by cubism.

Bibliography

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