Cubism, Futurism, and Purism: Early 20th-Century Art

Introduction to Cubism

Cubism emerged in the early twentieth century and broadly represented a deconstruction of visual forms. Other defining elements of Cubism include the abandonment of perspective and the simultaneous denial of the importance of realistic depiction of the subject. One of the hallmarks of Cubism was the artists' interest in rendering "the changing experience of space, movement, and time." Although much Cubist art is representational, many pieces veered toward abstraction, and the movement may be credited with initiating an era of increased abstractionism and non-representational art. One of the most significant examples of Cubism is Picasso's 1907 painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.

Pablo Picasso | 1907 | Cubism | Oil on Canvas

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso

This is a seminal piece because it was one of the first examples of Cubism. Picasso depicts women in an unconventional manner by removing their stereotypical curvaceousness and instead using sharp lines and intense angularity. The women appear as if they are shifting through time and space. Some of their faces are almost grotesque, as if they wear carnival masks. Moreover, Picasso depicts their physicality and presence in provocative ways, implying their "blatant sexuality" is both "aggressive" and "primitive."

Nudes had long been accepted subject matter for European artists, but Picasso depicts his nudes in a completely different way, shunning the old norms of soft, gentle innocence in favor of a more realistic portrayal of female form and female sexuality. Following in the tradition that Manet's Olympia established in a similar fashion, Picasso also combines controversial subject matter with the newly emerging art form of Cubism. As the term "Cubism" suggests, angles and geometry became far more important than realism. The artist seeks a completely new paradigm and revolutionary means of portraying the natural and human worlds.

Following close after, and even paralleling, Cubism, Futurism took root in European art, particularly in Germany and Italy. Futurism is defined by its angularity and concern with depicting motion and time, but is far more mechanistic in its approach than Cubism. In fact, one of the core goals and defining features of Futurism is the "celebration of the fast pace and mechanical power of the modern world." Futurist artists do not offer a critique of technology and its effects on society; in true modernist form, the Futurists simply appreciated what technology meant for overall social aesthetics. Futurist art is also similar to Cubist art in that it is not fully abstract — it still renders subject matter — and yet its style verges on non-representational art. One of the most important examples of Futurist art is Umberto Boccioni's bronze sculpture from 1913 entitled Unique Forms of Continuity in Space.

Futurism and the Machine Age

Umberto Boccioni | 1913 | Futurism | Bronze

This sculpture encapsulates the zeitgeist of Futurism in its medium, its form, and its message. The sculpture has an organic feel to it, linking the otherwise cold nature of machines and technology with the mysteries of human life. Boccioni depicts an androgynous human form in motion, one foot in front of the other in a long stride as if walking fast. The very act of walking is futuristic in tone because it represents moving forward in space and time, always seeking what emerges next on the horizon. Wing-like structures on the ankles also link the figure with the archetype of Mercury, showing how Futurists appreciated playing with aberrations in the space-time continuum by connecting past, present, future, and the eternal.