Cubism

Cristina Altadill Casas

1st Artistic Photography
Historical Context

Cubism is an artistic movement that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century,
in a tumultuous global environment, with voices of war already
listening to oneself.

The artists of this period sought new forms of expression that

reflected that mood, and moved away from figuration that
It had prevailed in art until the romanticism of the 19th century.
This is how several artists began to discover new techniques and
forms of expression, among which was cubism.

Cubism was created in the period between 1907 and 1914 by Picasso and
Braque together. The artists, immersed in a Europe that was
living a stage of alienating industrial development, which was reflected
even in the "industrialized" nature of artistic education that is
taught in the academies, they found, in the simplism of Rousseau and
in Fauvist vitalism first, and later in structuralism
Cézannian and in the roundness of the black sculptures, a solution
liberator of the world that tortured them. Picasso and Braque translate to
Cubist movement these desires for aesthetic revolution. Man is
now finds himself subjected to a rational world, surrounded by machines
and cement, alien to nature. Cubism seems like a parody of
this industrial and suprarational world: objects come to life in their hands
a mechanical value and they organize themselves with one another by virtue of
complicated joints of a logical nature. It also seems a
essay on structuring the world in geometric perspectives
purely rational, not visual: our senses do not match, the
The geometry we see is not the geometry we understand. The cubists want
correct this sensory error: they break the traditional perspective and
they destroy a kind world by showing us a natural world that
we have turned into an equation of interests. Cubism
it presents us a world that we do not see, but that we feel; it is, for the
so much, an experience, a form of expressionism: the sensation of living
in a mechanized, chaotic, science-fiction world... it is a
response to the anguish of uncommunication.

This new movement was quickly embraced by other artists.

thus giving rise to an artistic movement that, while it began by focusing
only in Paris, it soon took on an international dimension.
Artistic Context

There are different reasons that facilitated the emergence of this revolution
artistic, true liberating factor that originated a long series of
subsequent related movements: some, arising from the same movement,
like the orphism of Delaunay, purism, vorticism, or neocubism;
and others like futurism in Italy, constructivism in Russia, the
neoplasticism in the Netherlands or Malevich's suprematism.

So far, painters have expressed the three dimensions of the

shape on a two-dimensional fabric using the
principles and techniques of perspective. The cubist painters
they rejected this solution, which they considered as a falsification, and
they wanted to express volume and space through overlapping
of plans, representing, at the same time, the visible and hidden parts, or
decomposing and juxtaposing color and form. His work was
a constant search for depth. It cannot be said, without
embargo, that this new form of expression of depth was outside
a third dimension, but rather it was an experience of the
reversibility of dimensions, a global vision in which the height, the
depth and distance coexisted at the same time. The external form, the one that
it wraps the bodies, it was a secondary element; therefore it was
it is necessary to break with it and take the pure forms that constitute it:
cubes, cylinders, cones...

It was, in essence, a realistic movement; they did not deny painting.

figurative, but they only rejected the methods that were used for the
figuration. When they painted any theme, they wanted to find their
more realistic image, for which they avoided sticking to viewpoints
partial or limited views. Regarding color -and in contrast
to the Impressionist and Fauvist movements, which turned it into the
center of his experiences-, cubism, especially that of Picasso,
he advocated for a return to linear discipline. Thus, often
they break down the execution of the painting into two phases: the first one
they dedicated themselves to the approach or composition; and in the second they used
the color gives more strength. Cubism, as a reaction against the
naturalistic currents of the time, aims, through a process
intellectual, reconstructing the reality of objects by analyzing and
studying its structure.

The cubist desire to represent the true essence of the object was the
motor that drove his aesthetic research, understanding by "essence"
true" the object as it was and not as it appeared. For this
they rejected the perspective because they considered it as a
mystification of reality. They gave maximum value to the object and
they belittled any attempt to represent the atmosphere and the
visual depth. Initially, they even denied their own
artist's personality, for believing that the work did not have to represent
its reality but the reality of the object. This radicalism motivated that the
works created by Picasso and Braque during the cubism period
analytical they are often difficult to distinguish, as they had
a very similar theme and treatment.

The technique that cubism used to represent this realism of

the object was very varied, but it was essentially based on the objective of
to provide a multiple and simultaneous vision. This vision from different viewpoints
different at the same time expressed the volume through the superposition of
plans and, sometimes, the interpretation of the shapes. The result
achieved with this method takes on the appearance of an image
polyhedral difficult to identify. The predominance of acts of the mind
about the senses is also reflected in the great importance that, in the
painting took on form over color. Cubism not only
it relegated color to a secondary place compared to form, but
within an austere and monotonous monochrome, he used only
the gray and dark shades next to ochres and earth tones. It built the
giving each color or tone variation a different plane and
highlighting each variation of the shape with a change of color. The
Cubists simply deposited the color and avoided the brushstroke.
that, in some way, could have expressed the emotional state of the
artist to the detriment of the reality of the object. The system of visions
multiple and simultaneous, which they used to express volume, served them
also to express movement, which they represented by
multiple views of the different positions of the object, distant in the
time. It was the cubist version of the space-time dimension.

The name is due to the critic Louis Vauxcelles who baptized it

"cubists" to the artists of this trend in Gil Blas of May 25
from 1909.

The public presentation of Cubism, as a pictorial movement, had

place in 1910 at the Autumn Salon where many artists showed
works with this aesthetic approach.

The following year, several of those artists, who unlike Picasso and
Braque did not have regular access to a private gallery, they decided
exhibit together at the XXVII Salon of the Independents held in
April 1911, where they were assigned a room (41) dedicated
entirely to them. These artists, practitioners of a heretical cubism
or more clumsy than that of the great masters (Picasso, Braque, Gris), they will be
called "salon cubists".
Characteristics of Cubism
• Independence and autonomy of planes, explosion of volume: The
plans are objects of study in themselves, and not in a global view
of the volume, hence it dissolves. The large volumes
they break into smaller ones. Thus, it is also broken
contour line, the linear stroke is interrupted. That's why
compare the result of this process with the reflection in a mirror
twisted or with the vision through a kaleidoscope.

• Multiple perspective: It is given by the study of each plane in

its autonomy. It breaks with the monofocal perspective
Albertian. Painting has freed itself from the yoke of the traditional.
monocular vision. The angles of vision of the same are multiplied.
object. Thus, a complex view of the same entity is offered, which
can be presented at the same time facing forward, from the side, or from
any other significant angle.

• Disappearance of gradations of shadow and light: This phenomenon

is given by the decomposition of the volume.

• Color 'Local Tone': The color does not provide supplementary indications.
Generally, it was applied in small touches. This has occurred.
in calling Passepartout Color, suitable for all objects, but
that does not consist of the true color of any of them

• Geometricism: Geometric shapes invade the compositions.

The forms observed in nature are translated into
cylinders, cones, spheres, and cubes. The retina captures the shapes and the
the painter's mind simplifies them. Cézanne already reduced his
compositions to geometric shapes, that is why it will exert so much
influence on Cubism.

• Philosophical basis: Bergson's philosophical contributions are very

important for Cubism. He asserts that the observer
accumulates a lot of information about an object of the
external visual world. This is an experience that constitutes the
intellectual basis. Cubist painters pour this experience
distorting and overlapping landscapes. It is not about reflecting the
the reality itself, but the idea of reality that the artist possesses.

In cubism, it is not the color, but the line that creates the figure and
compose the picture. His works are not the product of chance but of
a meditated and conscious creation process. Cubism asks
due to the problems of volume and space. They are concerned about the
representation of movement and therefore of time: of the fourth
dimension. The ash color, white, and black help to the
reconstruction of the painting

Stages of Cubism
The division of cubism into four periods is generally accepted:

The Pre-Cubism of Picasso " BLACK PERIOD " (1906-1907)

Starting in 1906, Picasso embarks on the path that, little by little, leads him
leads to a break with traditional painting, or imitation painting.

From now on, you will be interested in a more conceptual art: it disappears the
imitation of reality, with no other reality existing than one's own
frame.

The influence of black sculpture is often discussed.

(Polynesian or Sudanese masks) about this period of Picasso.
Although he denied it several times, it is indisputable that he knew the
masks and black sculptures, very fashionable at that time among the
artists of Montmartre. This fact explains why this period is referred to as
also called "black period".

During this transitional period, Picasso engages in an intense search.

slowly creating a new universe based on shapes
geometric, so original, that it will end in that collision of the painting of
the one that will give rise to Cubism.

Picasso imposes a strict discipline of purely order.

constructive; an emerging geometrization of the forms that it
allows to evoke -and not to represent- its structure in its true form
identity, disregarding mere appearance (which is changing and
ephemeral). They are examples of what we say:
Self-Portrait "Portrait of Gertrude Stein" (1906)

Two Naked Women (1906)

A long series of studies of women's heads (1906-1907) leads us

leads to the great canvas that constitutes the manifesto of the great
cubist revolution:"The Young Ladies of Avignon" (1906-1907), which
they represent some prostitutes from Avinyó street in Barcelona.

Picasso shows in this work a face seen from the front with the nose in profile,
with which it adapts with originality to its new vision of the world, the law
the frontality of the Egyptians. The figures of the women are so
ambiguous as if the painter had moved with complete
freedom around its subject, gathering information from different
points and viewpoints.

They are those geometrized planes, the result of different points of

observation those who give ambiguity to the figures and, at the same time,
allow expressing the volume on the flat surface of the fabric.
 The Young Ladies of Avignon (1906-1907)

They are also from the same period and with the same intention:

"The nude with the towel" (1907)

Cezannian Cubism (1908-1909)

Braque spent the summer of 1908 in L'Estaque, painting the same

landscapes that Cézanne had painted insatiably and that reflect
clearly the great influence of the master of Aix. Picasso also paints
landscapes very similar to those of Braque.

If the plans, still quite wide, are clearly defined and

they powerfully model the form, the 'passages' already appear that
they recall the cezannian 'modulations', allowing both
artists should not fall into the pitfall of painting excessively
geometric and decorative. The characters, landscapes, and objects, although
"cubed" in strictly defined volumes in space,
they continue to be painted according to an apparent reality, that is, linked
still to the visible world, but they are reduced to their principles
essential constructs. Color, sensory element, which was one of the
the foundations of Cézanne's painting are limited to some color schemes
selected based on their harmonic relations, the browns, ochres,
walls, very varied grays, and finally the greens, whose relationships and
combinations recall Cézanne's painting; but the colors are
very different from those of the master of Aix, who had a great
predilection for blues, evoking the atmosphere.

Examples of works by both artists:

PICASSO:

Still Life with Fruit Bowl (1908) Still Life with Bouquet of Flowers (1908)
Portraits:

The Woman with the Fan Family of Harlequins

"The Woman in Green" (1909)

Landscapes:

The series of those carried out in Horta de Ebro (1909)

BRAQUE:

Landscapes:

Numerous landscapes of L'Estaque (1908-1909) such as:

 Houses at L'Estaque

The year 1909 marks a very significant evolution in the work of both.
artists, affirming themselves in the new trends: the forms are more
analyzed, and their geometrization becomes more evident; they are multiplied by
plans that replace volumes, as well as the "passages"; the
the model is not so vigorous; the colors and tones are less contrasted,
they tend towards a certain monochrome due to the ochres and grays, while the
greens are muted. It is here where Cubism begins to enter
in its analytical phase.

Braque will spend a little more time studying volumes before

to take the decisive step.

Analytical Cubism (1909-1912)

Subjected the objects to a decomposition process that established

dynamic rhythms in the structure of the work. The motif had to be
mentally reconstructed by the viewer, since the objects
the represented were described by fragments, as if the
spectator could see them from various places at once. It was an overcoming.
of the traditional three-dimensional representations that added
the virtual presence of the fourth dimension when presenting the works in
space-time. In this way, the cubist movement assimilated
elements of the cultural climate originated by the notions
Einstein and Minkowski's physical mathematics. The Factory in Horta of
Ebro (1909) only contained geometric elements, quadrangular.
more or less rhomboidal or trapezoidal, and triangles, with the
exception of the schematized palm leaves. The true
the protagonist is the transitions, which give the whole a play of
shadows and glows that make it alive and attractive. The exercise, which was easy
with architecture, because it is already geometric, it was transferred to the topic,
more difficult, of the human figure.

Factory in Horta de Ebro (1909, Picasso)

A Portrait of Fernande (1909) still made in Horta, turns

her face in a kind of montage of elemental structures,
separated by very pronounced transitions. Little by little, each
one of the particles of this kind of assembly was getting
personality and thus allowed for different aspects of a
same volume, since it was not necessary for them to match with the
neighboring volume. Thus, the phenomenon that is really produced
analytical: extract parts of the set in order to position them of
relieve and be able to overcome the traditional unique vision until
give at the same time things that we see and things that we know or that
we would see from another angle. This great complexity will give an aspect
from puzzles to works of 1910, like the Girl with
mandolin, where we see a lower part of three dimensions and
a high part of everything flat-, or like the kaleidoscopic grayscales and
loser of the Portrait of Ambroise Vollard, which is not due to being a loser
stop resembling the model so much.
 Girl with Mandolin (1910, Picasso)

Portrait of André Voillard (1910, Picasso)

Soon, both Picasso and Braque arrived at a kind of

narrowing of the analysis that diluted any idea of the whole of the
object, although it served the overall composition of the painting very well.

Focused on structural issues, they left the color in

background, and in reality they worked with grays, especially at
base of brown tones, and they did it in such a similar way
that, in 1911, the Accordionist by Picasso and the Guitarist of
Braque's works are almost identical and almost abstract.

The Accordionist (Picasso) Man with guitar (Braque)

Synthetic Cubism (1913-1914)

The radicalization of the analysis had led to the painting of

Picasso and Braque to an evident monotony, of results
always similar. Between the two, they conceived the exit: it was the
synthetic cubism, which took shape in 1912. It was valued
fundamentally the intellectual ordering of the works, of
way that compositional balances would predominate and the
formal structuring. From a technical point of view it is
fundamental the application, since 1912, of collage. Basically
it consisted of taking elements from the analysis of the
objects and from them freely construct a new object,
that would no longer be the image of anything but a reality created by
the work of the artist. To highlight this character of the
new painting, for which the object had ceased to be the point
of departure and had become the destination, the
synthetic compositions often did not fill the entirety of the
cloth, but they formed a stain in its center, in the shape of
oval, sometimes vertical, other times horizontal. In general, the
the montage was made from fragments of flat objects, that
allowed to recognize it. Curiously, the objects used were
a few but not many: the small table, the bottle, the siphon, the
glasses or the cups, the newspaper, the violin, the double bass, the guitar, the
cafetera, la pipa, los dados, la partitura musical, los naipes, el
chessboard, the fruit bowl..., the things that were within reach
hand in hand to put on the table, and related topics from
fauvist model, like the open balcony, the iron railing or
the seabed or cloud bottom. The themes that Braque adds,
as a wall painter that he had been, he knew well, like the
skirting boards, the friezes, the wallpapers, and the imitations of
wood or marble. Juan Gris was added, who acted as a theorist
from synthetic cubism, with ideas such as that one so clear that
showed that if the sun impressionists made a red stain,
the cubists of a red spot made a sun. In 1912, the started the
habit of introducing letters into painting. Soon, the letters, the
bottle labels and the decorative motifs or borders no longer
they were painted, but they were real papers stuck. It was
the discovery of collage.

Picasso and Braque collaborated closely on each of these.

stages. Its purpose was to make the painting a form-object that
it had its own reality and a specific function. To
the viewer is to be taught to consider the way how
integral part of the reality of the object; before the painting, one does not
You have to ask what it means, otherwise how does it work.

Collage by Juan Gris

Representatives of Cubism:

There are three main artists: Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris.
There are many others considered cubists, whose work differs.
notably from the previous ones, Gleizes and Metzinger, Marcel Duchamp and
Francis Picabia, Robert Delaunay, and Fernand Léger.

• Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973) is the great central figure of

cubism, and one of the great geniuses of universal art. His work
artistic is very extensive but its name will always be linked to
Cubism as its creator and its greatest representative. In 1907
The Young Ladies of Avignon, a painting that marks the beginning
of cubism. Other cubist paintings are Woman sitting on a
armchair, Woman with a fan, The factory of Horta del Ebro, Head of
mujer, La muchacha de la mandolina, El aficionado, Retrato de
Wilhelm Uhde, Portrait of D. H. Kahnweiler, Man with Hat,
Girl's head, Still life with a cane chair,
Guitar, Still life, these last three with collage, The
the Guernica

The Aficionado Portrait of Wilhem Uhde

Man with a hat Still life with cane chair

The Maids of Honor

The Guernica
• Georges Braque (1882-1963) is the other great creator of cubism,
more intellectual than Picasso. Always remains true to aesthetics
Cubist. Its characteristics are its still lifes: Nature
dead on tree table, Houses in the pond, La Roche-
Guyón, The Portuguese, Ceret: the rooftops, The man with the violin, Violin
and jar, The musician's table.

The Portuguese Ceret: the roofs

The musician's table

• Juan Gris (1887-1927) is the third great cubist. His compositions
they have a firm structure and a harmonious rhythm. Their cubism is,
fundamentally, synthetic and colored. Start to put on
his works title intranscendent. Composition, The smoker, The
tazas de té, La celosía, Vaso y paquete de tabaco, El lavabo.

Composition The smoker

The Sink
• Fernand Léger (1881-1955) Léger's paintings have a certain air
autonomous composed of cylinders and cones that certainly
interpret in a decorative way. They are also a
amalgamation of tubular and conical shapes where a
bright colorful because following advertising resources
combine the black and white drawing with strongly shaded areas
colored in red and yellow. Work: The Three Women

Three Women