Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, painting by Pablo Picasso

Cubism is synonymous with Pablo Picasso, but it wasn't this legendary artist alone who began the movement of cubism. Cubism was also jointly pioneered by french artist, George Braque. This avant garde art era was seen as radical, but was also highly influential in it's day, and continues to be. The cubist artist breaks up the object he is painting, disassembling it into an abstraction of (cube-like) pieces splayed all over the canvas. This was done so the artist could display the object in a multitude of arrangements, angles and representations, viewable all at once. It was common cubist form that all faces of an object would be painted, this revolutionized the way objects could be depicted in painting. It was also said to be a cheeky response to ambiguity in painting, and an attempt to engage the viewer in seeing the painting as a man-made construction.

The first school of Cubism was Analytical Cubism. These are the famed Picasso's that appear to be masses of intricate gray, beige and black from far away, but up close are closely detailed and structured. These paintings were not about use of color and were usually of scenes of nature, the scenes were taken apart and analyzed, the artist putting them back together in a new way.

Synthetic Cubism came next, which introduced a more collage-like element of imposed bright color and layered texture. These paintings literally became collages containing newspaper bits, pieces of sheet music, and other paper. Synthetic cubism was less about the deconstruction philosophy of analytical cubism and more about perfecting the style, adding texture and layers to the work.

Fruitdish and Glass, by Georges Braque	The City, a Purist work by Fernand Léger

From here came Purism. Purism rejected this ornate aesthetic of cubism and called for a return to the simple, deconstructive nature, and worked toward capturing modern life, the feeling of the machine age. This mini-movement was headed by french artists, Amedee Ozenfant and Charles-Edouard Jeanneret. These works used large areas of bright color, unlike analytical cubism and were known for their geometric shapes, which were often meant to capture machinery. When viewing the works of Purism, it is easy to see that the artists were also architects, this comes across in the perfected structure of the paintings.

Picasso went on to become one of the most recognized figured in art, to date. And while he moved on from cubism to explore many more forms of painting, cubism lives on even today! Numbers of contemporary artists continue to draw from the roots of cubism in their work, this style even shows up in much of graphic and commercial arts. While this style is over 100 years old, it still manages to stay relevant and look cutting edge. Very impressive for art that debuted in the early 1900's!

Commission a cubist piece of art for your collection. An analytical cubist piece adds a serious touch to your art collection, the subdued colors are perfect for décor that does not allow for bright pops of color. These would make fantastic reproductions, because a print can never capture the detail in these textured paintings. For a brighter take on cubism, try adding a piece from the collection of Purism, bringing a colorful and urban feeling touch to any home.