El origen del arte moderno “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” - Picasso
Cubism was a truly revolutionary art style first developed by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris. It began at the start of the 20 th Century in response to a rapidly changing world. This was a way to see art from a new perspective- a new way of seeing which reflected the modern age.
For the 4 decades from western society had more advances than in the previous four centuries together. Inventions included: photography, cinematography, the telephone, the car, and the airplane. Photography had begun replacing painting as the way to document the times. Artist Paul Cézanne was a precursor to this new art movement. He saw painting in more abstract terms- as the construction and arrangement of color on a two-dimensional surface. This appealed to the cubists.
Paul Cézanne- Bibemus Quarry, 1895 Pablo Picasso- Factory, Horta de Ebro, 1909
Georges Braque- Viaduct at L’Estaque, 1908 Juan Gris- Violin and Glass, 1915
Cubists proposed that your sight of an object is the sum of many different views and that your memory of an object is not from simply one angle. A typical cubist work shows real people, places, or objects, but not from a fixed viewpoint. Instead, it shows many parts at one time from many different angles. The whole idea of space is reconfigured- all sides are seen in the work.
Pablo Picasso, Head of a Woman, 1907 African masks and art greatly influenced early cubist works. Two Phases of Cubism: Analytical- early, until about 1912; the artist analyzed the subject from many different views and reconstructed it geometrically. Synthetic- after 1912; characterized by adding “real” world elements to cubist works.
This second phase of cubism (synthetic) was also known as the “collage technique”. It was more colorful and decorative. Pablo Picasso- Still Life with Chair Caning, 1912 Pablo Picasso- Still Life with Mandolin and Guitar, 1924
Los tres músicos- Pablo Picasso
Diego Rivera studied in Paris. Between he devoted himself almost entirely to the cubist style. He wanted to capture an object from many different points of view. Diego Rivera, Eiffel Tower Diego Rivera, Still Life
By the end of World War I cubism had run its course and its popularity began to fade. However, future art movements came into being as a result of cubism including: Orphism, purism, futurism, precisionism, constructivism, and expressionism. Diego Rivera, Two Women Diego Rivera, Still Life
Salvador Dalí was a cult celebrity who was one of the highest grossing artists in history. He would do anything for money- he made tv commercials for chocolate, designed the logo for Chupa Chups lollipops, signed autographs and sold them. He is most known for the Surrealist Movement, but he also experimented early- on with cubism. He was influenced by Marcel Duchamp’s “Nude Descending a Staircase”.
He had one famous cubist work entitled “Cubist Self-portrait.
Proyecto: Now, in your groups you are going to “recreate” your own version of Picasso’s cubist masterpiece Los tres músicos. Use one piece of construction paper as your background color. Then, using only geometric shapes and sharpie markers, create what you see in the painting. You decide on the colors.