Cubism

Cubism was one of the most influential styles of the first half of the twentieth century. Pablo Picasso was the founder of this style which paved the way to modern art. He took Cezanne’s ideas to another level. It was also influenced from African art, depicting real life moments. Picasso was obsessed with cinema, and many scholars think that Cubism was inspired from the moving picture. Their aim was to lose the traditional techniques and develop a new way of seeing the world. Taking an object and looking at it from various angles, placing all these different views in one composition.  Eventually they used to transform objects into geometric shapes. Braque & Picasso’s favourite motifs to paint were usually, forms that can be related to one another, such as the human figure, bottles, grapes and musical instruments. Since these motifs are similar, they help us to find our way through the paintings and make it easier to understand. This style was divided in two distinctive parts, the Analytical and Synthetic. The Analytical was when artists viewed the subject from different viewpoints and transform it into a composition. Having a limited palette of colours, to represent these fragmented images. From the 1912 onward  Braque and Picasso’s paintings became so similar, more abstract, where the subject matter is less recognizable. Then Picasso started placing actual images related to the theme on his still life. This was the origin of collage.

 Pablo Picasso. "Violin and Grapes." Spring-summer 1912

Head of a woman (1928) vs. Head of a woman (1946)

Head of a Woman
 Pablo Picasso, 1946, oil on canvas (Museo Picasso Malaga, Malaga)

Head of a Woman

Pablo Picasso  (Spanish, Malaga 1881–1973 Mougins, France)

Picasso wanted to check out for himself how far the idea of constructing can go when using unusual forms and materials.  He composed 16 different paintings symbolizing his crumbled marriage to Olga Kokhlova. In one of his earliest composition, we can see that he uses one continuous line. He added an abstract shape suggesting the contour of the face. He placed the eyes as far as possible from each other, with different sizes. To picture this angry female, he placed only three hairs and also a small pair of nostrils. He created four pointed lines in the middle representing her teeth, which make the image look a bit terrifying.  In the other composition, her teeth give a harmonious feeling to the image, with one continuous line. He divided the image in two to create a contrast, one with a darker background leaving the facial features blank. He placed the same eyes found in the other painting on top of each other, unlike the other composition. He added an extra hair, using straight lines. Only one nostril is seen. The curve in the lower part of this arrangement indicates Olga’s body. The simple lines, both vertical and horizontal are connecting the two parts together. The vertical line found in the middle presents the image of a hand.

Sources

Contemporaneous Extension, Highest Lights

Available at:- http://contemporaneousextension.wordpress.com/ ( Accessed on 18.11.2012)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-2012, Head of a Woman

Available at:- http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/210010276 ( Accessed on 18.11.2012)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-2012,Cubism

Available at:- http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm (Accessed in 17.11.2012)

Cubism-The first style of abstract art, 2012, Cubism

Available at:- http://artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm (Accessed on 17.11.2012)

E.H. Gombrich, Phaidon, 1995, The story of Art, Pgs 574-577