Picasso and Braque: The Origins of Cubism

Introduction to Cubism

Cubism refers to a revolutionary style of art that emerged in Paris during the early twentieth century — roughly 1907 through 1914 — and is credited to the creations of two particular painters, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. The major characteristic of the Cubist style is the rejection of traditional techniques of perspective, foreshortening, modeling, and chiaroscuro, along with a deliberate disregard for the accepted theory that art must imitate nature. Instead, the artists chose to emphasize the flat, two-dimensional surface of the picture plane and refused to be bound by conventional representations of form, texture, color, and space. Rather than copying the visible world, they sought to present reality in a new way that showed fragmented objects "whose several sides were seen simultaneously."

The term cubism is said to have originated from remarks made by Henri Matisse and critic Louis Vauxcelles as they described Braque's 1908 painting "Houses at L'Estaque," a work composed of cubes. In this work, "the volumes of the houses, the cylindrical forms of the trees, and the tan-and-green color scheme" resemble Cézanne's landscapes. However, it was Picasso's 1907 "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" that truly forecasted this new style. In that piece, "the forms of five female nudes became fractured, angular shapes … warm reddish browns advancing and the cool blues receding."

Georges Braque: Background and Artistic Development

Georges Braque was born on May 13, 1882, in Argenteuil-sur-Seine, and by 1902 he had moved to Paris to study painting. In 1905, he was impressed by the exhibition known as "Fauves," which included work by Henri Matisse and André Derain — painters who used brilliant colors and loose forms. Braque adopted Fauvism from 1906 through 1907. However, by the following year he had shifted his interests to the paintings of Paul Cézanne, whose strange and distorted forms and "unconventional perspective" led Braque to begin painting in the style that came to be known as Cubism.

From 1908 to 1913, Braque studied the effects of light and perspective and questioned the majority of artistic conventions. In his village scenes, for example, he often reduced an architectural structure to a geometric form or rectangular prism and applied shading to make it appear both flat and three-dimensional, thereby drawing attention to the "very nature of visual illusion and artistic representation."

In 1909, Braque began working closely with Pablo Picasso, who "had been developing a similar approach to painting." Together they produced work of "neutralized color and complex patterns of faceted form," now referred to as analytic Cubism (1910–1912), a style visible in Braque's "Violin and Pitcher." Both artists also experimented with collage, a medium using materials such as paper or fabric to create an image. Their working collaboration continued until 1914, when Braque enlisted in the French army during World War I and was severely wounded.

In 1917, after returning from the war, Braque worked alone and developed a more personal style "characterized by brilliant color and textured surfaces," returning to the human figure as a subject. Painting many still lifes, he maintained his emphasis on structure and produced numerous paintings, graphics, and sculptures throughout his career. He died in 1963.

Pablo Picasso: Periods and Path to Cubism

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, ceramist, and graphic artist whose versatility and prolificacy led many to consider him the foremost figure in twentieth-century art. After studying art at the Royal Academy of Art in Barcelona at the age of fifteen, he moved to Paris in 1900, where Toulouse-Lautrec influenced his early works.

Picasso's production is generally described in terms of a series of overlapping periods. His "Blue Period" (1901–1904) is characterized by depictions of the poor rendered predominantly in blue tones. These melancholy paintings — such as the 1903 "The Old Guitarist" — are among the most popular artworks of the twentieth century. His "Rose Period" (1905–1906) is characterized by a lighter palette and "greater lyricism, with the subject matter often drawn from circus life." During this era, his Paris studio attracted the major figures of the avant-garde, including Matisse, Braque, Apollinaire, and Gertrude Stein.

Picasso's 1907 "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" was a radical departure from traditional art and is now considered the "most significant work in the development toward Cubism and modern abstraction." It is evident that Picasso was greatly influenced by Cézanne and by African sculpture, as seen in the painting's "fragmented forms and unprecedented distortions." This work is considered the first phase of Cubism — analytic Cubism (1909–1912) — which was "a severe, intellectual style conceived and developed by Picasso, Braque, and Gris." His "Female Nude" (1910–1911) is a representative painting of this style, and his "Woman's Head" (1909) is a representative sculpture.

During the synthetic phase of Cubism, after 1912, Picasso's forms became "larger and more representational, and flat, bright decorative patterns replaced the earlier, more austere compositions." His 1921 "The Three Musicians" is a classic representation of this style. Picasso's work during the Cubist period firmly established that a work of art could exist as an important object "beyond any attempt to represent reality."