Explore the early Cubist works of Pablo Picasso and George Braque.

What were the influences on Cubism?

Cubism set out to define a then new modern reality. It was the first abstract art form and the most revolutionary art movement of the twentieth century. Cubism arose as a collaboration of the artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Georges Braque (1882-1963) in around 1907–08. They portrayed a different perspective of objects or figures together in the same picture, resulting in paintings that appear fragmented and abstracted.

Picasso was inspired by stylised and primitive African art and masks while Braque experimented with more revolutionary innovations. It is also likely that Picasso was also influenced by Asian Art, where multi-perspective artwork had been used in Chinese aesthetics for centuries and rekindled during his highly publicised meeting with the Chinese artist Zhang Daqian (1899-1983). (Chow, 2018)

Braque, who had been a student of Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) and had witnessed at first hand his use of fragmented space, was the sobering voice in this artistic relationship, drawing both artists towards Cézanne’s more conservative formal legacy of reducing reality to basic geometrical shapes that are clearly connected with one another. (Tate, 2020)

From their friendship, Analytical Cubism, the first evolution of Cubism was born.

How did the Cubists seek to represent the three-dimensional reality of objects and space? What are the similarities in these works to a non-western approach?

To portray a reality of three-dimensional objects and space, Cubist reduced colour and used overlapping geometric structures that appeared to project out of and into the picture plane. With no one single-point linear perspective the scene changed as it is observed from various vantage points, thereby creating a dynamic vision akin to moving pictures. (The Art Story, n.d.)

By 1910-11 the analytic cubism phase was at its height with the simultaneous multi-faceted viewpoints within one plane depicted their work in a more fragmented manner. This is seen in Braque’s Violin and Palette (1909) and Picasso’s Girl with Mandolin (1910) (Mdc.edu, n.d.)

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“Analytical Cubism was about breaking down an object (like a bottle) viewpoint-by-viewpoint, into a fragmentary image, whereas Synthetic Cubism was about flattening out the image and sweeping away the last traces of allusion to three-dimensional space” (Tate, 2019)

Multi-perspective drawings and paintings had been deep in Chinese aesthetics for centuries, although its introduction to the Western art world through movements such as Cubism came much later. Artist in Asia during this period created and treated space in a painting quite differently to the West.  As opposed to depicting perspective with graduated tones, shadows and size within the picture plane, Asian art was more contextual, narrative and descriptive. (Chow, 2018) The Cubists embraced these concepts, especially that of context. 

Look at this image by 20th Century artist Henri Matisse. How do you feel he is challenging the conventions of western perspective? How does this impact on you as the viewer?

Matisse’s Red Interior, Still Life on a Blue Table (1947) offers an interesting perspective from one with depth and perspective to that of a flat plane. A round table, with fruits and a vase of flowers, stands near the open door or window, through which we can see into the garden. Whilst this view creates a sense of spatial qualities, the objects are not depicted from a single viewpoint which with the black zigzag lines suggests a flat plane. The use of bright colours (red and yellow) jars the eye, preventing the viewer from settling on a single viewpoint. (Art-matisse.com, 2020) (Henrimatisse.org, 2020)

By using multi-perspective viewpoints and angles, the viewer can see more context; there are seven red pieces of fruit on a round table. Inevitably this style challenged the conventions of western art in that:

• The round table and angle of the open window present two different perspectives
• The vase of flowers is viewed from a different perspective to the table on which they rest
• The angle of the table would result in the objects falling off
• Zigzag lines are on a flat plane with no linear perspective (inside or out)
• Colours are unrealistic
• There is no shading to describe the objects
• All objects are shown as flat, two-dimensional shapes

References:

Art-matisse.com. (2020). Henri Matisse pictures from 1940s | art-Matisse.com – Red Interior. Still Life on a Blue Table 1947. [online] Available at: http://art-matisse.com/1940_42.html [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].

Brenson, M. (1989). Picasso and Braque, Brothers in Cubism. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/22/arts/picasso-and-braque-brothers-in-cubism.html [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].

Chow, V. (2018). Why is Picasso so popular in Asia? [online] bbc.com. Available at: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180321-why-is-picasso-so-popular-in-asia [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].

Henrimatisse.org. (2020). Red Interior, Still Life on a Blue Table, 1947 by Henri Matisse. [online] Available at: https://www.henrimatisse.org/red-interior-still-life-on-a-blue-table.jsp [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].

Kirshner-Breen, S. (2017). Paul Cezanne’s influence on Georges Braque. [online] Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@kbreenconsulting/paul-cezannes-influence-on-georges-braque-fc84a21771c8 [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].

Mdc.edu. (n.d.). Cubism. [online] Available at: https://www.mdc.edu/wolfson/academic/ArtsLetters/art_philosophy/Humanities/Cubism/cubism%20front2.htm [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].

Moma.org. (n.d.). Picasso and Braque. [online] Available at: https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_press-release_327550.pdf [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].

Tate. (2020). All about cubism – Look Closer | Tate. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/c/cubism/all-about-cubism [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].

The Art Story. (n.d.). Cubism – Concepts & Styles. [online] Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/cubism/history-and-concepts/ [Accessed 18 Feb. 2020].