Cubism summary

Cubism, Movement in the visual arts created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in Paris between 1907 and 1914. They were later joined by Juan Gris, Fernand Léger, Robert Delaunay, and others. The name derives from a review that described Braque’s work as images composed of cubes. Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) signaled the new style, which was inspired by African sculpture and the later paintings of Paul Cézanne. Cubist work emphasized the flat, two-dimensional, fragmented surface of the picture plane, rejecting perspective, foreshortening, modeling, and chiaroscuro in favour of geometric forms. The work made in this style from 1910 to 1912 is often referred to as Analytical Cubism. Paintings executed during this period show the breaking down, or analysis, of form. Artists favoured right-angle and straight-line construction and colour schemes that were nearly monochromatic. After 1912 the phase known as Synthetic Cubism began. Works from this phase emphasize the combination, or synthesis, of forms in the picture. Colour assumes a strong role in the work; shapes, while remaining fragmented and flat, are larger and more decorative; and collage is often used. Many subsequent 20th-century avant-garde movements were influenced by the experimentation of the Cubists.