Cubism Flashcards
Cubism
what is it / how is it composed
The deconstruction of three-dimensional form, shattering that form, and then placing those fragments back on a two dimensional surface
social / political context of the time
Paris = newly refurbished by Baron Haussmann
Young artists were drawn to Paris at this time (start of the century) because of its cultural prestige - many flourished enormously here
They wanted to fight against the capitalist driven ideas of the bourgeoisie that caused economic inequality
Art historical context
Avant-gardism = a product of the pre-first world war decade
Artists had started to engage with a culture that alienated themselves from the socail, moral and aesthetic conventions of modern capitalist society
inspiration from cezanne
The cubists were greatly influenced by Cezannes innovative use of pictorial space: his painting style would lay bare and open up the process of pectoral representation for the viewer to explore. - no one way to look at the work - differing perspectives - looking at it from different places at once
Non-western art influence
Artefacts from central and West Africa were flooding into the ethnographic museums of Europe
From the perspective of the colonialists, these objects seemed exotic as they had an element of ‘the other’ and of ‘savagery’ - similar to their view of orientialism which they characterised with female eroticism through the lens of male desire
Seeking a new language to represent modern culture
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
date, artist
1907, Pablo Picasso
Houses at l’Esaque
date, artsist
1908, Georges Braque
Ma Jolie
date, artist
1908, Pablo Picasso
Still Life with bottle of Suze
date, artist
1912,
Pablo Picasso
