Difference between revisions of "Cubism"

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[[image:braque.woman.400pix.jpg|thumb|200px|''Woman with a guitar'' by [[Georges Braque]], [[1913]]]]
 
[[image:braque.woman.400pix.jpg|thumb|200px|''Woman with a guitar'' by [[Georges Braque]], [[1913]]]]
 
[[Image:Cubist house prague.jpg|thumb|200px|Cubist house in [[Prague]]]]
 
[[Image:Cubist house prague.jpg|thumb|200px|Cubist house in [[Prague]]]]
'''Cubism''' was an [[avant-garde]] [[art movement]] that revolutionized European painting and sculpture in the early [[20th century]].
 
  
In cubist artworks objects are broken up,analyzed, and reassembled in an abstracted form — instead of rendering objects from a single fixed angle, the artist depicts the subject from multiple angles simultaneously as an attempt to present the subject in the most complete manner.  Often the surfaces of the facets, or planes, intersect at angles that show no recognizable depth. The background and object (or figure) planes interpenetrate one another creating the ambiguous shallow space characteristic of cubism.
 
  
Cubism began in [[1906]] with [[Georges Braque]] and [[Pablo Picasso]], who lived in the [[Montmartre]] quarter of [[Paris, France]]. They met in [[1907]], and worked closely together until [[World War I]] began in [[1914]].  
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'''Cubism''' was an early [[20th century]] [[avant-garde]] [[art movement]] that revolutionized [[Europe|European]] [[painting]] and [[sculpture]], and inspired related movements in [[music]] and [[literature]].
  
French art critic Louis Vauxcelles first used the term "cubism" "(bizarre cubiques)" in [[1908]]. After which, the term was in wide use but the two creators of cubism refrained from using it for a quite some time.
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In cubist artworks, objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form — instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to present the piece in a greater context. Often the surfaces intersect at seemingly random angles presenting no coherent sense of depth. The background and object (or figure) planes interpenetrate one another to create the ambiguous shallow space characteristic of cubism.
  
The cubism movement, born in [[Montmartre]], expanded by the gathering of artists in [[Montparnasse]], and was promoted by art dealer [[Henry Kahnweiler]]. It became popular so quickly that by [[1910]] critics were referring to a "cubist school" of artists influenced by Braque and Picasso. However, many other artists who thought of themselves as cubists went in directions quite different from Braque and Picasso, who themselves went through several distinct phases before [[1920]]. The [[Puteaux Group]], an offshoot of the Cubist movement, to which artists like [[Guillaume Apollinaire]], [[Robert Delaunay]], [[Marcel Duchamp]], [[Fernand Léger]] belonged, also became famous.
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==History==
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[[Georges Braque]] and [[Pablo Picasso]], then residents of the [[Montmartre]] quarter of [[Paris, France]] are the movement's main innovators. After meeting in 1907 they began working on the development of Cubism in [[1908]], and worked closely together until the outbreak of [[World War I]] in [[1914]].
  
Cubism influenced artists of the first decades of the [[20th century]] and it gave rise to development of new trends in art like [[futurism (art)|futurism]], [[constructivism]] and [[expressionism]].
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French art critic [[Louis Vauxcelles]] first used the term "cubism", or "bizarre cubiques", in 1908 after seeing a picture by Braque. He described it as 'full of little cubes', after which the term quickly gained wide use although the two creators did not initially adopt it.
  
[[Image:Violon, verre, pipe et encrier.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Violon, verre, pipe et encrier'' by [[Pablo Picasso]], [[1912]].]]
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Cubism was taken up by many artists in [[Montparnasse]] and  promoted by art dealer [[Henry Kahnweiler]], becoming popular so quickly that by [[1910]] critics were referring to a "cubist school" of artists. However, many of the artists who thought of themselves as cubists went in directions quite different from Braque and Picasso. The [[Puteaux Group]] was a significant offshoot of the Cubist movement, and included artists like [[Guillaume Apollinaire]], [[Robert Delaunay]], [[Marcel Duchamp]] and [[Fernand Léger]]. Braque and Picasso themselves went through several distinct phases before [[1920]].
Innovative artists, Braque and Picasso sought new ways to express space and form in painting. They were influenced by [[Paul Cezanne]], [[Georges Seurat]], Iberian sculpture, [[African sculpture|African tribal]] art (although Braque later disputed this), and by the [[Fauves]].
 
  
==Analytical cubism==
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The influence of cubism on artists of the first decades of the [[vorticism]] and [[expressionism]].
Picasso and Braque worked alongside one another (1906-1909 pre-cubism) and then started to work hand-in-hand to further advance their concepts into what was later termed "analytical cubism" (autumn 1909 to winter 1911/1912), a style in which densely patterned near-monochrome [[surfaces]] of incomplete directional lines and modelled forms constantly play against one another.
 
 
 
Picasso's painting of the [[Les Demoiselles d'Avignon]] is not considered cubist, however it is considered essential in the development of the movement. In this work Picasso first experiments with seeing the same object, or figure in this case, from various directions.  Impressed by the painting, Braque experimented further with this idea. The developments of both men in the field would lead to what would be cubism.
 
 
 
Some art historians have also identified a secondary phase in this analytical period, the "Hermetic" phase, in which the works are characterized by being monochromatic and hard to decipher. The painters gave clues as to what is portrayed by leaving some identifiable object. For example a pipe, which leads to identifying that a person is smoking it. During this time the cubists neared abstraction. Some alphabetic letters were introduced to the works during this phase, to also serve as clues. Braque introduced these which gave immediate connection to everyday objects like a bottle of rum or a newspaper.
 
  
 
==Synthetic cubism==
 
==Synthetic cubism==
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[[Image:Nature morte à la chaise cannée.jpg|thumb|The first Synthetic Cubist work, [[Picasso]]'s ''Still life with chair caning'' (1911-12)]]
  
The second phase of cubism, beginning in [[1912]], is called "synthetic cubism".  
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The second phase of cubism, beginning in [[1912]], is called "[[Synthetic Cubism|Synthetic Cubism]]".
  
These works of art are composed of distinct superimposed parts — painted or often pasted onto the canvas — and are characterized by brighter colours, something that they had previously tried to reintroduce, but were unsuccesful in doing so in a smooth transitory way. Unlike analytic cubism, which fragmented objects into its composing parts or facets, synthetic cubism attempted more to bring many different objects together to create new forms.
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Unlike analytic cubism, which fragmented an object into its composing parts or facets, synthetic cubism brought many different objects together to create new forms. Distinct superimposed parts were painted or often pasted onto the canvas, one effect of which was the introduction of brighter colors into cubist space.
  
 
This phase constitutes the birth of the [[collage]] and of [[papier collé]]. Picasso invented the collage with his ''Still Life with Chair Caning'', in which he pasted a patch of oil cloth painted with a chair-caning design to the canvas of the piece. Braque, interested by Picasso's technique, first employed papier collé in his piece ''Fruitdish and Glass''. Papier collé consists of pasting material to a work much in the same way as a collage, except the shape of the patches are objects themselves. For example, the glass on the left in ''Fruitdish and Glass'' is a piece of newspaper cut into the shape of a glass.
 
This phase constitutes the birth of the [[collage]] and of [[papier collé]]. Picasso invented the collage with his ''Still Life with Chair Caning'', in which he pasted a patch of oil cloth painted with a chair-caning design to the canvas of the piece. Braque, interested by Picasso's technique, first employed papier collé in his piece ''Fruitdish and Glass''. Papier collé consists of pasting material to a work much in the same way as a collage, except the shape of the patches are objects themselves. For example, the glass on the left in ''Fruitdish and Glass'' is a piece of newspaper cut into the shape of a glass.
  
While Braque had previously used lettering, the two artist's synthetic pieces began to take the idea to a new extreme. Letters that had hinted to the objects, became objects themselves! Newspaper scraps are among the most usual items the artists pasted to their canvases. They went further by adding paper with a wood print, or other types of scraps. Later they pasted advertisements, as well. This helped reintroduce color into the cubist works.
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While Braque had previously used lettering in his compositions, the two artists' synthetic pieces greatly developed this idea. Letters that had hinted to the objects, became objects themselves. Newspaper scraps are among the usual items the artists pasted to their canvases, but they also used wallpaper, paper with a wood print, advertisements, or other types of scraps..
 
 
Besides employing mixed media, Picasso and Braque varied their paint applications with decorative painting techniques such as combing, faux graining and adding sand for texture. They often drew objects and added shadows with graphite or charcoal, mixing drawing and painting techniques. Picasso especially made use of pointilism and dot patterns to suggest transparent planes and to differentiate space.
 
 
 
==Well-known cubists==
 
[[Image:Wotruba kirche.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The [[Wotruba Church]] in [[Vienna]]]]
 
 
 
* [[Georges Braque]]
 
* [[Marcel Duchamp]]
 
* [[Juan Gris]]
 
* [[Paul Klee]]
 
* [[Fernand Leger]]
 
* [[Jacques Lipchitz]]
 
* [[Louis Marcoussis]]
 
* [[Marevna]] ([[Marie Vorobieff]]-Stebelska), for a specimen of her cubist paintings depicting herself, her daughter Marika and Marika's father [[Diego Rivera]], with friends from [[Montparnasse]]/[[La Ruche]], cf. [http://www.rusmuseum.ru/eng/exhibitions/?id=140&i=4&year=2003&pic=4]; also: [http://www.artnet.com/artwork/157172/_Marie_Marevna_Cubist_Sunflowers.html] [http://www.thepodule.com/cate.html].
 
* [[Jean Metzinger]]
 
* [[Alexandra Nechita]]
 
* [[Francis Picabia]]
 
* [[Pablo Picasso]]
 
* [[Liubov Popova]]
 
* [[Diego Rivera]] ("Master Cubist"[http://www.fbuch.com/cubism.htm])
 
* [[Marie Vassilieff]]
 
* [[Fritz Wotruba]]
 
 
 
There were also critics ([[Andre Salamon]], [[Guillaume Apollinaire]]), poets ([[Max Jacob]], [[Pierre Reverdy]], [[Gertrude Stein]])
 
and following [[Jacques Lipchitz]], other sculptors such as [[Raymond Duchamp-Villon]] and [[Elie Nadelman]] who were soon drawn into the sphere of cubismness.
 
 
 
[[Robert Delaunay]] practiced what he called "[[Orphism|Orphic cubism]]" which is identified with the [[Puteaux Group]].
 
 
 
==Trivia==
 
 
 
[[Pigeon]]s have been trained to correctly distinguish between [[cubist]] and [[impressionism|impressionist]] paintings; see [[discrimination abilities of pigeons]] for details.
 
  
 +
Besides employing mixed media, Picasso and Braque varied their paint applications with decorative painting techniques such as combing, faux graining and adding sand for texture. They often drew objects and added shadows with graphite or charcoal, mixing drawing and painting techniques. Picasso especially made use of pointillism and dot patterns to suggest transparent planes and to differentiate space.
  
 +
Gertrude Stein famously reported the remarks of Picasso and Braque, viewing camouflaged military equipment on parade in Paris at the beginning World War I. "We did that," Picasso said. "That is cubism."  The new MARPAT and APU camoflauge patterns have returned to the method of sharp edges used to depict softer shapes.
  
==External links==
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==Settings in Music==
{{Commonscat|Cubist paintings}}
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A prime example of cubism in music was given by composer [[Igor Stravinsky]] in his [[Piano-Rag-Music]], for solo piano. It was written during Stravinsky's stay in France around 1919 as a result of contact with American popular music ([[ragtime]] culminated, at that time) from the early '20s. Elements reassembled were rhythmic and harmonic segments from ragtime and polyrhythm, bitonality and melody from his Russian influence.
* [http://www.kubista.cz/en/o-kubismu.html About Cubism and Czech Cubism]
 
* [http://members.lycos.co.uk/cubist_movement/ Cubism and the Cubists]
 
* [http://www.jasonkaufman.com/articles/picasso_and_braque.htm Pioneering Cubism]
 
* [http://www.migraine-aura.org/EN/Mosaic_Vision.html Mosaic Vision]
 
  
{{modernism}}
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==Cubism in Literature==
 +
Cubism also was adapted into literature, especially poetry, by the likes of [[Guillaume Apollinaire]], [[Max Jacob]], [[Gertrude Stein]] and [[Pierre Reverdy]]. Such poets adopted a number of techniques which could be classed as close to Analytic Cubism (destruction of grammar, strange or absent punctuation, free verse, etc.) and also some others close to Synthetic Cubism, especially in the case of Guillaume Apollinaire (fusion of poetry and drawing in [[Calligram|caligrammes]]; collages involving postcards, letters and the like; use of musical notation, etc.) It should be noted that Cubist poetry frequenty overlaps with [[Surrealism]], [[Dadaism]], [[Futurism]] or even more diverse movements such as [[Vicente Huidobro]]'s [[Creacionismo|Creationism]].
  
<!--Categories-->
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== External links and References: ==
[[Category:Modern art]]
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*[http://users.iptelecom.net.ua/~keytoart/Attributed_Works_of_Art.htm Russian and ukrainian cubists]
[[Category:Cubism| Cubism]]
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*[http://users.iptelecom.net.ua/~keytoart/Exhibitions_and_Publications.htm '''Dmitriy Gorbachov''', ''Ukrainian Avant-garde Art 1910-1930s'', Mystetstvo, 1996, Kiev, Ukraine.]
[[Category:Modernism]]
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*[http://users.iptelecom.net.ua/~keytoart/works_for_rent.htm Exhibition '''Ukrainian modernism''' NY, Chikago, 2006, USA]
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*[http://users.iptelecom.net.ua/~keytoart/p/a&u.htm '''Avantgarde and Ukraine''', Exhibition of the Villa Stuck Munich, 1993, Germany.]
 +
*[http://members.lycos.co.uk/cubist_movement '''Cubism and the Cubist Movement''' 1907 onwards]
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*[http://users.iptelecom.net.ua/~keytoart/p/l'art.en.ukraine.htm Exhibition '''L'art en Ukraine''', Toulouse, France, 1993.]
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*[http://users.iptelecom.net.ua/~keytoart/p/zagreb.htm Ukrainian Avant-garde of 1910s-1930s / Ukrajinska Avangarda 1910-1930. Zagreb, 1991, Croatia.]
 +
*[http://uk.portalmundos.com/mundoarte/comments/cubist.htm The Cubist Rupture] Artistic comments in MundoArta

Latest revision as of 08:14, 8 October 2009

Cubist house in Prague


Cubism was an early 20th century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music and literature.

In cubist artworks, objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form — instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to present the piece in a greater context. Often the surfaces intersect at seemingly random angles presenting no coherent sense of depth. The background and object (or figure) planes interpenetrate one another to create the ambiguous shallow space characteristic of cubism.

History

Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, then residents of the Montmartre quarter of Paris, France are the movement's main innovators. After meeting in 1907 they began working on the development of Cubism in 1908, and worked closely together until the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

French art critic Louis Vauxcelles first used the term "cubism", or "bizarre cubiques", in 1908 after seeing a picture by Braque. He described it as 'full of little cubes', after which the term quickly gained wide use although the two creators did not initially adopt it.

Cubism was taken up by many artists in Montparnasse and promoted by art dealer Henry Kahnweiler, becoming popular so quickly that by 1910 critics were referring to a "cubist school" of artists. However, many of the artists who thought of themselves as cubists went in directions quite different from Braque and Picasso. The Puteaux Group was a significant offshoot of the Cubist movement, and included artists like Guillaume Apollinaire, Robert Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp and Fernand Léger. Braque and Picasso themselves went through several distinct phases before 1920.

The influence of cubism on artists of the first decades of the vorticism and expressionism.

Synthetic cubism

File:Nature morte à la chaise cannée.jpg
The first Synthetic Cubist work, Picasso's Still life with chair caning (1911-12)

The second phase of cubism, beginning in 1912, is called "Synthetic Cubism".

Unlike analytic cubism, which fragmented an object into its composing parts or facets, synthetic cubism brought many different objects together to create new forms. Distinct superimposed parts were painted or often pasted onto the canvas, one effect of which was the introduction of brighter colors into cubist space.

This phase constitutes the birth of the collage and of papier collé. Picasso invented the collage with his Still Life with Chair Caning, in which he pasted a patch of oil cloth painted with a chair-caning design to the canvas of the piece. Braque, interested by Picasso's technique, first employed papier collé in his piece Fruitdish and Glass. Papier collé consists of pasting material to a work much in the same way as a collage, except the shape of the patches are objects themselves. For example, the glass on the left in Fruitdish and Glass is a piece of newspaper cut into the shape of a glass.

While Braque had previously used lettering in his compositions, the two artists' synthetic pieces greatly developed this idea. Letters that had hinted to the objects, became objects themselves. Newspaper scraps are among the usual items the artists pasted to their canvases, but they also used wallpaper, paper with a wood print, advertisements, or other types of scraps..

Besides employing mixed media, Picasso and Braque varied their paint applications with decorative painting techniques such as combing, faux graining and adding sand for texture. They often drew objects and added shadows with graphite or charcoal, mixing drawing and painting techniques. Picasso especially made use of pointillism and dot patterns to suggest transparent planes and to differentiate space.

Gertrude Stein famously reported the remarks of Picasso and Braque, viewing camouflaged military equipment on parade in Paris at the beginning World War I. "We did that," Picasso said. "That is cubism." The new MARPAT and APU camoflauge patterns have returned to the method of sharp edges used to depict softer shapes.

Settings in Music

A prime example of cubism in music was given by composer Igor Stravinsky in his Piano-Rag-Music, for solo piano. It was written during Stravinsky's stay in France around 1919 as a result of contact with American popular music (ragtime culminated, at that time) from the early '20s. Elements reassembled were rhythmic and harmonic segments from ragtime and polyrhythm, bitonality and melody from his Russian influence.

Cubism in Literature

Cubism also was adapted into literature, especially poetry, by the likes of Guillaume Apollinaire, Max Jacob, Gertrude Stein and Pierre Reverdy. Such poets adopted a number of techniques which could be classed as close to Analytic Cubism (destruction of grammar, strange or absent punctuation, free verse, etc.) and also some others close to Synthetic Cubism, especially in the case of Guillaume Apollinaire (fusion of poetry and drawing in caligrammes; collages involving postcards, letters and the like; use of musical notation, etc.) It should be noted that Cubist poetry frequenty overlaps with Surrealism, Dadaism, Futurism or even more diverse movements such as Vicente Huidobro's Creationism.

External links and References: