What is the subject of this painting? How do you know? What makes it difficult to tell?

Pablo Piccaso. Portraitof Kahnweiler. 1910.

Georges Braque. Violin and Candlestick. 1910.

How are these similar?

CUBISM:• Cubism is often viewed as one of the most

influential art movements of the 20th century.• Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso are the two

artists credited with starting cubism in 1906. The artists lived in Paris and worked closely with one another until the onset of WWI in 1914.

• Their work is frequently divided into two categories: analytical and synthetic cubism.

In Analytical Cubism, • artists fragment the picture plane so multiple

perspectives of the subject matter can be shown at one time.

• the illusion of movement is created because we can see several angles of the same subject.

• The artist achieves this kaleidoscope-like effect by using lines to divide the artwork into geometric shapes.

• The colors in analytical cubism are usually neutral and muted.

• Changes in value, or shading, within the many angles help create interest and a sense of depth.

• Subject matter is often ambiguous, or hard to determine.

Picasso. Weeping Woman. 1937.

Picasso. Portrait of Marie-Therese. 1937.

• Synthetic Cubism was the second phase of the cubist movement, in which cut paper fragments – often wallpaper or portions of newspaper pages – were pasted into compositions, marking the first use of collage in fine art.

• Color starts to return to the work of Braque and Picasso. • The picture plane continues to be fractured, but not

necessarily as much as in analytic cubism. When Braque enlisted in the armed forces during WWI, Picasso continued to develop cubism on his own.

• Even though the cubist movement came to an end in the 1920’s, elements of cubism can be found in many of the portraits Picasso painted later in his career.

CUBISMfrom Wikipedia

Analytic cubism (1909–1912) is a style of painting Picasso developed with Georges Braque using monochrome

brownish and neutral colors. Both artists took apart objects and "analyzed" them in terms of their shapes. Picasso and

Braque’s paintings at this time share many similarities.

Synthetic cubism (1912–1919) was a further development of the genre, in which cut paper fragments – often

wallpaper or portions of newspaper pages – were pasted into compositions, marking the first use of collage in fine

art.

1909-10, Figure dans un Fauteuil (Seated Nude, Femme nue assise), oil on canvas, 92.1 x 73 cm, Tate Modern, London. This

painting from the collection of Wilhelm Uhde was confiscated by the French state and sold at the Hôtel Drouot in 1921

Interesting Facts about Cubism• The artwork of Paul Cezanne is said to have been one of the main

inspirations for Cubism. • Picasso and Braque did not think Cubism should be abstract, but other

artists, such as Robert Delaunay, created more abstract work. In this way Cubism eventually helped to spawn the Abstract Art movement.

• Picasso also worked on Cubist sculpture including his sculpture Head of a Woman.

• Popular subjects for Cubism included musical instruments, people, bottles, glasses, and playing cards. There were very few Cubist landscapes.

• Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque worked closely together in developing this new art form.