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Overview
What is Cubism?
c. 1907 – 1920sPeriod
Paris, FranceBegan in
12Key artists on this page
12Works with free images
11Museums to visit
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broken up, and reassembled in an abstract form. Instead of depicting objects from a single perspective, the artist depicts the subject from multiple perspectives to represent the subject in a greater context. Cubism has been considered the most influential art movement of the 20th century. The term cubism is broadly associated with a variety of artworks produced in Paris (Montmartre and Montparnasse) or near Paris (Puteaux) during the 1910s and throughout the 1920s.From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Original Art Movements text
This is the text that appeared on this page on the original Art Movements site. It is kept for reference; some statements are simplified or out of date. Where it differs from the overview, characteristics and dates above, which are checked against Wikipedia and Wikidata, trust those instead.
The Cubist art movement began in Paris around 1907. Led by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, the Cubists broke from centuries of tradition in their painting by rejecting the single viewpoint. Instead they used an analytical system in which three-dimensional subjects were fragmented and redefined from several different points of view simultaneously.
The movement was conceived as ‘a new way of representing the world’, and assimilated outside influences, such as African art, as well as new theories on the nature of reality, such as Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
Cubism is often divided into two phases – the Analytic phase (1907-12), and the Synthetic phase (1913 through the 1920s). The initial phase attempted to show objects as the mind, not the eye, perceives them.
The Synthetic phase featured works that were composed of fewer and simpler forms, in brighter colours. Other major exponents of Cubism included Robert Delaunay, Francis Picabia, Jean Metzinger, Marcel Duchamp and Fernand Léger.
Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris, Francis Picabia
Related
Fauvism, Suprematism, Constructivism
How to recognise it
Key characteristics of Cubism
Objects broken into geometric facets
Several viewpoints shown at once
Flattened space instead of traditional perspective
Muted browns and greys in early 'Analytic' Cubism
Collage and papier collé in later 'Synthetic' Cubism
Timeline
When was Cubism?
Cubism is usually dated c. 1907 – 1920s, beginning in Paris, France. Dates for art movements are approximate: artists joined and left, and styles overlapped.
Each bar shows an artist's life; the shaded band is the main period of Cubism.
Max Jacob
Maurice de Vlaminck
Francis Picabia
André Derain
Pablo Picasso
Fernand Léger
Georges Braque
Marie Laurencin
Juan Gris
Josef Čapek
Ossip Zadkine
Alexander Rodchenko
Cubism
1876–1944
1876–1958
1879–1953
1880–1954
1881–1973
1881–1955
1882–1963
1883–1956
1887–1927
1887–1945
1888–1967
1891–1956
18801900192019401960
Who
Key Cubism artists
Artists linked to Cubism in Wikidata, ordered by how widely they are covered on Wikipedia. Artists marked Art Icons have a full profile on our sister site.
Developed by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Cubism broke objects into geometric facets seen from several viewpoints at once.
When was Cubism?
Cubism: c. 1907 – 1920s. It began in Paris, France. Dates for art movements are approximate.
What are the main characteristics of Cubism?
Objects broken into geometric facets; Several viewpoints shown at once; Flattened space instead of traditional perspective; Muted browns and greys in early 'Analytic' Cubism; Collage and papier collé in later 'Synthetic' Cubism.
Who are the most famous Cubism artists?
Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris, Francis Picabia, André Derain.
What are some famous Cubism works?
Guernica by Pablo Picasso; Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by Umberto Boccioni; I and the Village by Marc Chagall; The Bottle of Anís del Mono by Juan Gris; Saint Sebastian by Bohumil Kubišta.
Where can I see Cubism art?
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid, Spain), Israel Museum (Jerusalem), Museum of Modern Art (New York, United States), National Gallery Prague (Czech Republic), Kunstmuseum Basel (Switzerland) hold works shown on this page.
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