Picasso: Birth & Evolution of Cubism (1908-1920)
Nature of Cubism
What we see physically with our eyes may not exist in the same form in our minds and perceptions. Cubist art is an expression of an object as it is perceived in our minds. Live objects are shown as crystals in cubes and in forms not visualized by us. For example, nature when perceived as dead is drawn in shades of dark colorlessness. The painting becomes a scene that can exist in our perceptions only.
Birth of Cubism
When French writer Apollonaire introduced Picasso to the French artist Georges Braque in 1907, little did he realize that he was uniting two people to give birth to one of the most revolutionary styles of art that came to be known as cubism. The French artist Paul Cezanne of the post-impressionist era was an inspiring influence on both Picasso and Braque in developing cubism. ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’, the famous Picasso painting of 1907 was a prelude to the development of cubism. Veering from the approaches of the famous artists Matisse and Derain, Picasso adopted the African and Iberian sculptural and cultural styles in a different way. Picasso taking a cue from these styles departed from the anatomical human figures and instead evolved a form of art that gave a combined view of the subject as if it was seen from different angles. This not showing the subject from one angle as was the tradition was the unique feature of cubism.
Analytic & Synthetic Cubism
The traditional single angle perspective in vogue since the Renaissance was replaced by Picasso with multi-angular fragmented perspective of the object. The object in Picasso’s arts was not what was seen with eyes but a conceptual reality that differed from the natural look of the object. The idea was just the opposite of Fauvism which relied on natural look of an object. The period 1909-1911 is called the period of analytic cubism. Then Picasso started using printed papers on his painting where the objects became richer in color and more recognizable. This was synthetic cubism.
