Cubism, 1907-1939

  • Paul Cézanne

    Paul Cézanne
    Metzinger was at the center of Cubism both because of his participation and identification of the movement when it first emerged, because of his role as an intermediary among the Bateau-Lavoir group and the Section d'Or Cubists, and above all because of his artistic personality.
  • Paul Klee

    Paul Klee
    Paul Klee was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism.
  • Pablo Picasso

    Pablo Picasso
    Pablo Picasso was a leading 20th-century artist who co-founded the Cubist movement, invented constructed sculpture, and helped develop collage. He utilized various media in his works, including clay for ceramics, oil paint for paintings, and chalk and charcoal for drawings.
  • Albert Gleizes

    Albert Gleizes
    Albert Gleizes was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism, and an influence on the School of Paris.
  • Georges Braque

    Georges Braque
    George Braque's famous paintings are characterized by the Cubist style, where objects appear to be composed of cubes and geometric shapes.
  • Jean Metzinger

    Jean Metzinger
    Metzinger played a significant role in the Cubism movement, being a key participant and identifier of the movement's emergence. He served as an intermediary between the Bateau-Lavoir group and the Section d'Or Cubists, and his artistic personality further contributed to his centrality in the movement.
  • André Lhote

    André Lhote
    Lhote started with a Fauvist style but later adopted Cubism and became a member of the Section d'Or group in 1912. He exhibited at the Salon de la Section d'Or with key modern artists like Gleizes, Villon, Duchamp, Metzinger, Picabia, and La Fresnaye.
  • Juan Gris

    Juan Gris
    Juan Gris was a Spanish painter known for his clear and composed still lifes, which are key examples of Synthetic Cubism.
  • The first era of cubism art

    The first era of cubism art
    Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque met in 1905, but it was in 1907 that Picasso introduced Braque to Cubism with his painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. This work, depicting five prostitutes, was heavily influenced by African tribal art that Picasso encountered at the Palais du Trocadéro in Paris.
  • Analytical Cubism

    Analytical Cubism
    Braque’s 1908 painting Large Nude, influenced by Cézanne, marked the start of Analytical Cubism. This style features subjects shown from multiple angles, creating a fractured, multi-dimensional effect with a limited palette of somber colors like browns, grays, and blues, and often centers the subject in a dense visual composition.
  • Cubist Movement

    Cubist Movement
    Arcossis discovered Braque's work in 1910, noting that his Cubist paintings have a more human quality and lighter touch than others. Spanish artist Juan Gris remained on the forefront of this movement.
  • Synthetic Cubism

    Synthetic Cubism
    New elements appear in works by Picasso and Braque, including cut-up newspaper, wallpaper, construction paper, cloth, and rope.
  • Second era of Cubism

    Second era of Cubism
    By 1912, Picasso and Braque introduced words into their paintings, leading to the collage elements of Synthetic Cubism. This phase featured flattened subjects and brighter colors.
  • Orphic Cubism

    Orphic Cubism
    Orphism, or Orphic Cubism, was coined by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire in 1913 as an offshoot of Cubism that emphasized pure abstraction and bright colors, influenced by Fauvism and the writings of Paul Signac and Michel Eugène Chevreul. This movement, pivotal in the transition to Abstract art, was led by František Kupka, Robert Delaunay, and Sonia Delaunay, who revitalized color during Cubism's monochromatic phase.
  • Cubism World War 1

    Cubism World War 1
    World War I disrupted the Cubism movement as several artists, including Braque, Lhote, de la Fresnaye, and Léger, were called to duty. De la Fresnaye was discharged in 1917 due to tuberculosis and struggled to continue his art before dying in 1925.
  • End of Cubism

    Cubism may not have reemerged as a dominant force, but its influence persists in movements like Futurism, Constructivism, and Abstract Expressionism.