ART ESSAY

Cubism

In this essay, I am going to discuss Cubism, a revolutionary style of modern art which originated in Paris, 1907. Two of the main artists which contribute to this artistic movement are Picasso and Braque. I chose this particular movement since it is the key principal for other later movements such as Constructivism and Futurism. Cubism introduced a new way of seeing art making it more abstractive and focusing more on certain viewpoints rather than the whole scene.

So basically, there was a time in society where culture developed technology, cinematography, photography and factories were evolving very fast making it difficult for the artists like Picasso and Braque challenging to reflect on these modern aspects using the usual trusted tradition. Photography was also making it difficult for artists since taking a photo is a much more clear and fast illustration rather than painting the object/ scene itself. Nowadays, technology is so advanced that cameras are available in markets with reasonable prices and almost everyone owns a camera by now.

From the beginning of the Renaissance time period, there had been a target in art which incorporates perspective and the goal of any artist was to make the painting look three-dimensional and somehow close to reality. But due to the sophisticated technology and modernized society, Picasso and Braque had to adopt new ways of tackling their ideas making them more abstractive and flat (two-dimensional).

At a later stage, Paul Cezanne was influenced by Picasso and Braque’s paintings. He wasn’t actually focusing on the depth and the perspective of the drawing but tried to make the difference between painting and reality. So basically, what he did was flatted the space and emphasized more on the surface of the painting itself; the construction and the arrangements of colors he used.

 This is one of his Cubist painting which illustrates what has been discussed above

PAUL CÉZANNE (1839-1906)
'Bibemus Quarry', 1895 (oil on canvas)

Cubism- The first style of abstract art, 2013. Cubism. (online) Available at: < http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm>  (Accessed 16 December 2013)

Furthermore, perspective was limitating the Cubist from getting beyond his imagination and paint what he really likes of the object. In fact, when you paint something from a single view point this limits the rest of the object which is invisible for you. But what the cubists wanted to introduce was the idea of relativity; how the artist perceives and selects elements from the subject, fusing both his observations and memories into the one concentrated image. To do this the Cubists examined the way that we see.

When you look at an object, your eyes start going up and down, sideways.. and you see some details that interest you more than the rest of the other features in the object. Even today, when someone observes a painting maybe in an exhibition he won’t just see from one single view point but will judge it from every angle and side of it. Therefore, the Cubists proposed that your sight of an object is the sum of many different views and your memory of an object is not constructed from one angle, such as perspective, but from many angles selected by your sight and movement. A typical cubist painting will show you a real object but not from a single view point. It will show you some parts combined with different angles and reconstructed into a composition of planes, forms and colours. The idea of space is reconfigured and the views become interchangeable elements in the design of the painting.

Cubists were also reflecting on different types of cultures (apart from their own) they found inspiration particularly from African culture. They were not interested in their religion but only influenced from their expressive style was essential for them.

 LEFT: Pablo Picasso, 'Head of a Woman', 1907 (oil on canvas)

RIGHT: Dan Mask from West Africa

Cubism- The first style of abstract art, 2013. Cubism. (online) Available at: < http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm>  (Accessed 16 December 2013)

At around 1912 Picasso and Braque’s paintings were becoming predictable and very abstractive. So Picasso to break this chain of constancy began to make his art less abstractive and by gluing printed images (collage making) from the ‘real world’  he revitalized the style and pulled it back from total abstraction.

To sum up, Cubism was split in Analytical Cubism (1907-1912); painting objects seeing them through different viewpoints and mashing them up, and Synthetic Cubism (1912 onwards) which is less abstractive and more freehand.  When Cubism spread in Europe there emerged other movements such as Expressionism. All in all, Cubism ignores the traditions of perspective drawing and shows you many views of a subject at one time.

Bibliography:

Cubism- The first style of abstract art, 2013. Cubism. (online) Available at: < http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm>  (Accessed 16 December 2013)