Art concepts and applications

Picasso and Braque

Picasso

Pablo Picasso is often revered as the creative genius who initiated many of the trends, styles and movements in Twentieth Century art. His name is associated with experimentation and innovation in modern art which took painting and sculpture in new and exciting directions.

It should also be borne in mind that Picasso was one of many artists during the early and middle Twentieth Century who worked to produce new styles and artistic vision. In this sense, Picasso can be seen to have been aligned with many modernist schools of art -- particularly Cubism and Surrealism. Both these styles and movements in art were based on one essential premise; namely, the search for the new and the 'real' in the face of a general disillusionment with the past. There was a reaction from many artists during the early years of the Twentieth Century against the ideas and traditions of the past. Picasso formed part of this and was a cardinal innovator of this modernist movement.

In his search for new means of expression Picasso searched for subject matter which would excite and stimulate the imagination. One of the objects that he used in a number of his most famous works was the African mask. The mask was used for example in one of his groundbreaking and important paintings entitled Les Demoiselles D' Avignon.

Picasso was also one of the pioneers of Cubism and this painting, with its strange geometric lines and distorted human faces, is seen of an originating impulse for the Cubist movement. While one of the reasons he used the African mask was to shock, another was that he was interested in the simple lines and the formal and geometric shapes the masks offered him. This is evidenced in an interview in which Picasso was asked whether it was the magical quality of the African art that attracted him to which he replied "Not at all -- I am interested in their geometric simplicity." (Duerden, Dennis.)

Les Demoiselles D'Avignon is often invoked as the painting that started Cubism. A central aspect that the African mask motif created in Picasso's work was the challenge that it set up to ideas and normative perceptions of natural form.

2. Braque

Braque, with Picasso, is credited as one of the main innovators of Cubism. It is the often stated that while working with Picasso "he originated cubism and the cubist style, to become one of the major figures of 20th-century art.

(Georges Braque (1882-1963) After settling in Paris in 1902, Braque become influenced by the various innovative movements in modern art. He was especially attracted to the free and imaginative art of The Fauves. He was impressed by the colorful and bold works of Henri Matisse and Andre Derain.

Braque began to work with Picasso in 1909 and these two artist experimented with various forms, shapes and styles. This experimentation was eventually to produce the first works of Analytic Cubism. During this period both Braque and Picasso worked with "neutralized color and complex patterns of faceted form." ( ibid) Braque also began extend the boundaries of art by using collage elements in his paintings - incorporating newspapers, and fabric into his works. His painting entitled Violin and Pitcher is one of the first Cubist works. One of his most well-known works which clearly illustrates the principles of Cubism is Violin and Candlestick painted in 1910. This work shows both the muted and neutralized tones as well as the formal and almost geometric use of shape which was to typify Cubism.