Cubism | Early 20th-century art movement
1900

Early 20th-century art movement

Cubism is an early 20th-century art movement which took a revolutionary new approach to representing reality. Invented in around 1907 by artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, cubist painting showed objects and people from lots of different angles, fragmented like through a kaleidoscope.

Where does the name of this iconic, influential style come from?. Critic Louis Vauxcelles saw Braque’s paintings exhibited in Paris in 1908. He described them as reducing everything to “geometric outlines, to cubes”. And so the school of 'Cubism' was born.

1910

Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne is said to have formed the bridge between late 19th-century Impressionism and the early 20th century's new artistic movement, Cubism.

Through his paintings, Cézanne appeared to be capturing things from slightly different points of view, as well as distilling objects and landscapes into flat planes of color.

Even though Cézanne was mainly trying to create volume through color planes, the future Cubists saw a tendency to represent nature with geometric shapes in his work, which is central to the early development of Cubism.

The artist’s work went on to inspire Cubist artists including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, and Juan Gris to experiment with ever more complex multiple views of the same subject and break the traditional rules of perspective.

1920

Pablo Picasso

As well as being inspired by Cézanne, Spanish artist Pablo Picasso was also influenced by African tribal masks, which are often highly stylized and non-naturalistic, but still present a vivid human image.

Famous for seemingly rearranging the facial features of his subjects, Picasso once said: “A head is a matter of eyes, nose, mouth, which can be distributed in any way you like”.

1930

Georges Braque

Georges Braque was a key figure in the development of Cubism, in fact the artist’s work between 1908 and 1912 is so closely associated with that of his colleague Picasso, that for many years their respective Cubist works were indistinguishable. Unfortunately, due to Braque’s quiet nature, the fame and notoriety of Picasso partially eclipses his own work.

1940

Juan Gris

Born in Madrid, in 1906 Juan Gris moved to Paris and became friends with Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger and Pablo Picasso. Moving on from the satirical cartoons he was known for, in 1910 Gris developed a personal Cubist style and considered the importance of mathematics in painting.

Initially Gris painted in the style of Analytical Cubism but after 1913, he began to lean towards Synthetic Cubism and was using collage extensively. Unlike Picasso and Braque who both favored monochromatic palettes, Gris painted with bright harmonious colors in contrasting combinations, which were inspired by Matisse.

1950

Fernand Léger

In 1911, Fernand Léger was one of a handful of artists who were responsible for revealing Cubism to the general public for the first time in an organized show. Léger’s style of Cubism was personal to him and was called by his critics, “Tubism”, which referenced his penchant to emphasize cylindrical forms.

1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
Cubism | Early 20th-century art movement
1900

Early 20th-century art movement

Cubism is an early 20th-century art movement which took a revolutionary new approach to representing reality. Invented in around 1907 by artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, cubist painting showed objects and people from lots of different angles, fragmented like through a kaleidoscope.

Where does the name of this iconic, influential style come from?. Critic Louis Vauxcelles saw Braque’s paintings exhibited in Paris in 1908. He described them as reducing everything to “geometric outlines, to cubes”. And so the school of 'Cubism' was born.

1910

Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne is said to have formed the bridge between late 19th-century Impressionism and the early 20th century's new artistic movement, Cubism.

Through his paintings, Cézanne appeared to be capturing things from slightly different points of view, as well as distilling objects and landscapes into flat planes of color.

Even though Cézanne was mainly trying to create volume through color planes, the future Cubists saw a tendency to represent nature with geometric shapes in his work, which is central to the early development of Cubism.

The artist’s work went on to inspire Cubist artists including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, and Juan Gris to experiment with ever more complex multiple views of the same subject and break the traditional rules of perspective.

1920

Pablo Picasso

As well as being inspired by Cézanne, Spanish artist Pablo Picasso was also influenced by African tribal masks, which are often highly stylized and non-naturalistic, but still present a vivid human image.

Famous for seemingly rearranging the facial features of his subjects, Picasso once said: “A head is a matter of eyes, nose, mouth, which can be distributed in any way you like”.

1930

Georges Braque

Georges Braque was a key figure in the development of Cubism, in fact the artist’s work between 1908 and 1912 is so closely associated with that of his colleague Picasso, that for many years their respective Cubist works were indistinguishable. Unfortunately, due to Braque’s quiet nature, the fame and notoriety of Picasso partially eclipses his own work.

1940

Juan Gris

Born in Madrid, in 1906 Juan Gris moved to Paris and became friends with Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger and Pablo Picasso. Moving on from the satirical cartoons he was known for, in 1910 Gris developed a personal Cubist style and considered the importance of mathematics in painting.

Initially Gris painted in the style of Analytical Cubism but after 1913, he began to lean towards Synthetic Cubism and was using collage extensively. Unlike Picasso and Braque who both favored monochromatic palettes, Gris painted with bright harmonious colors in contrasting combinations, which were inspired by Matisse.

1950

Fernand Léger

In 1911, Fernand Léger was one of a handful of artists who were responsible for revealing Cubism to the general public for the first time in an organized show. Léger’s style of Cubism was personal to him and was called by his critics, “Tubism”, which referenced his penchant to emphasize cylindrical forms.

1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950