Question

Discuss the development of Cubism.  Who were the primary innovators?  What made it revolutionary?  What distinguished Analytic Cubism from Synthetic Cubism?  Please cite at least three specific examples (including artist’s name and painting title) in your answer.

Answer 1

Cubism is an artistic movement, created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, which employs geometric shapes in depictions of human and other forms. Over time, the geometric touches grew so intense that they sometimes overtook the represented forms, creating a more pure level of visual abstraction. Though the movement’s most potent era was in the early 20th Century, the ideas and techniques of Cubism influenced many creative disciplines and continue to inform experimental work.

The term Cubism was first used by French critic Louis Vauxcelles in 1908 to describe Braque’s landscape paintings. Painter Henri Matisse had previously described them to Vauxcelles as looking comprised of cubes. The term wasn’t widely used until the press adopted it to describe the style in 1911.

In 1909, Picasso and Braque redirected their focus from humans to objects to keep Cubism fresh, as with Braque’s Violin and Palette.

Wider exposure brought others to the movement. Polish artist Louis Marcossis discovered Braque’s work in 1910, and his Cubist paintings are considered to have more of a human quality and lighter touch than the works of others.

Spanish artist Juan Gris remained on the fringes of the movement until 1911. He distinguished himself by refusing to make the abstraction of the object more essential than the object itself. Gris died in 1927, and Cubism represents a significant portion of his life’s work.

French painter Fernand Léger was initially influenced by Paul Cézanne and upon meeting Cubist practitioners embraced the form in 1911, focusing on architectural subjects.

Marcel Duchamp flirted with Cubism beginning in 1910 but was often considered at odds with it. His famous 1912 painting, Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2), reflects the influence but features a figure in motion. Typically in Cubist works, the viewer is more placed in motion, since the perspective presented on canvas are multiple planes, as if the artist is moving around the subject and capturing all views in one image.

Comparison between analytical and synthetic cubism

Analytical cubism focuses more on breaking down an image into its many forms and viewpoints in order to “analyze” the image in all the possible angles and context, to the illusion of a three dimension appearance (Honour & Fleming 121). Synthetic cubism on the other hand focuses more on the imitation of an image usually using bright colors or collage hence the artwork is more often two dimension.

A typical Cubist painting depicts real or natural objects from variable viewpoints, showing many parts of the subject at the same time (Becker 1). Such paintings can be viewed from different angles and this is achieved by reconstructing an image into a composition of geometric shapes planes and colors. The end result is the illusion of reconfiguration of space, where all sides of an object can be viewed on a two dimension plane (Hunter et al 19).

Examples of Analytical Cubism:

• The Reservoir by Picasso (1909)
• The Accordionist by Picasso (1911)
• Houses on the Hill Horta de Ebro by Picasso (1909)

Examples of Synthetic Cubism:

• Juan Gris. The Sunblind 1914.
• Pablo Picasso. Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper 1913.
• Pablo Picasso. Bowl of Fruit, Violin and Bottle 1914. Lent by the National Gallery 1997.