{"id":226552,"date":"2025-08-20T07:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T07:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museumtv.art\/artnews\/articles\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T08:40:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T08:40:58","slug":"presentation-of-the-movements-cubism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museumtv.art\/en\/artnews\/articles\/presentation-of-the-movements-cubism\/","title":{"rendered":"Presentation of the Movements – Cubism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In <\/span>November<\/span> 1908, Louis <\/strong><\/a><\/span>Vauxcelles<\/span><\/strong>‘ <\/span>words<\/span> were<\/span> published<\/span>. “He <\/em><\/strong><\/span>scorns<\/span> form<\/span> and <\/span>reduces<\/span> everything<\/span>, sites, figures, <\/span>houses<\/span>, to <\/span>geometric<\/span> diagrams<\/span><\/em><\/strong>, to cubes…”<\/em><\/strong> He, <\/span>who<\/span> had<\/span> given<\/span> his<\/span> name<\/span> to <\/span>Fauvism<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, <\/span>did<\/span> the <\/span>same<\/span> with<\/span> Cubism<\/span> <\/strong><\/a>with<\/span> regard to<\/span> the <\/span>paintings<\/span> of Georges Braque <\/strong><\/span>created<\/span> at <\/span>L’Estaque<\/span> and <\/span>exhibited<\/span> in <\/span>November<\/span> at the Kahnweiler <\/span>Gallery<\/span> in Paris. A second <\/span>hypothesis<\/span> regarding<\/span> the <\/span>origin<\/span> of <\/span>this<\/span> group’s<\/span> name<\/span> suggests<\/span> that<\/span> it<\/span> came <\/span>from<\/span> Henri Matisse <\/span><\/strong>when<\/span> he<\/span> saw<\/span> a painting of <\/span>houses<\/span>.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Means<\/span> and Techniques<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n\n

The central part of a <\/span>painter’s<\/span> work<\/span> is<\/span> to <\/span>deconstruct<\/span> reality <\/span>in <\/span>order<\/span> to<\/span> assemble the <\/span>different<\/span> planes of the <\/span>object<\/span> being<\/span> observed<\/span>. The <\/span>artist<\/span> composes <\/span>his<\/span> work<\/span> by <\/span>superimposing<\/span> multiple <\/span>views<\/span> of the <\/span>subject<\/span> on <\/span>a surface<\/span>. <\/span>Sometimes<\/span> by <\/span>overlapping<\/span> the planes<\/span>.<\/span>The manifesto of Cubism, Pablo Picasso’s <\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span>Les Demoiselles <\/span>d’Avignon<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em>, attests to this division.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n

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While <\/span>remaining<\/span> anthropomorphic, the bodies of these women are broken down into small, assembled geometric <\/span>facets<\/span>. The theme of what is considered the first Cubist work refers to \u00c9douard Manet’s<\/strong> <\/span><\/span>Olympia<\/span><\/span> scandal, as it depicts prostitutes.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Pablo Picasso,<\/span><\/span> Les Demoiselles <\/span>d\u2019Avignon<\/span>,<\/span><\/span> 1907, oil on canvas, 243.9 x 233.7 cm, New York, MoMA<\/a><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

A Fruitful Encounter<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n
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Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso photographed by Mariette Lachaud <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

This movement was born from the association of the artists Pablo Picasso<\/a><\/strong> and Georges Braque.<\/strong><\/a> The two artists met through Guillaume Apollinaire<\/strong> in 1907. In Montmartre<\/span>, in<\/span> Picasso’s Bateau-<\/span>Lavoir<\/span> studio, <\/span><\/span>Les Demoiselles <\/span>d’Avignon<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong> was nearing completion. Picasso quickly visited Braque’s studio to discover his landscapes. They began collaborating and exchanging their artistic <\/span>perceptions<\/span> in 1908.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

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Georges Braque,<\/span><\/span> The Viaduct at <\/span>L’Estaque<\/span><\/span>, 1908, oil on canvas, 72 x 59 cm, Paris, Centre Pompidou<\/a><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

Major Inspirations<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n\n

They were both great admirers of Paul C\u00e9zanne<\/strong><\/a>. A painter of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, C\u00e9zanne <\/span>stated<\/span>: “Nature must be treated through the cylinder, the sphere, the cone.”<\/em> <\/strong>This quote parallels this artist’s vision with the geometrization of forms employed by Braque and Picasso. The appreciation of C\u00e9zanne’s work is reflected in the subjects he explored: landscapes, still <\/span>lifes<\/span>, portraits. The same is true for the palette and the organization of certain spaces.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

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Paul C\u00e9zanne, Mount Sainte-Victoire seen from Bellevue, c. 1892-1895, oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm, Philadelphia, Barnes Foundation <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Paul C\u00e9zanne, <\/span><\/span>Winding Road at <\/span>Montgeroult<\/span><\/span>, 1898, oil on canvas, 81.3 x 65.7 cm, New York, MoMA<\/a><\/span> <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

Furthermore, the museumization of many foreign artifacts, particularly at the Trocad\u00e9ro, allowed artists to draw inspiration from other media and motifs. In Picasso’s faces, the features of certain African masks are visible. <\/p>\n

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Ngil mask, Fang Gabon, wood and pigments, H. 51 cm, Paris, Mus\u00e9e Dapper <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

One movement, three phases<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/h2>\n\n

However<\/span>, <\/span>Cubism<\/span>, <\/span>although<\/span> criticized<\/span> by the art <\/span>critic<\/span>, <\/span>required<\/span> significant<\/span> technical<\/span> virtuosity<\/span>. Indeed, <\/span>illustrating<\/span> three<\/span> dimensions on a <\/span>two-dimensional<\/span> medium <\/span>was<\/span> not <\/span>within<\/span> everyone’s<\/span> reach<\/span>. <\/span>Cubist<\/span> artists<\/span> rethought<\/span> the <\/span>conventional<\/span> perspective <\/span><\/strong>developed<\/span> during<\/span> the Renaissance, as <\/span>discussed<\/span> by Alberti<\/strong><\/a> in <\/span>his<\/span> work<\/span> <\/span>De <\/span>Pictura<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n