Cubism Facts for Kids

Pablo Picasso, Three Musicians (1921), Museum of Modern Art. Three Musicians is a classic example of cubism.

A painting by Paul Cézanne, an artist who influenced the Cubists

Air+Man+Space by Lyubov Popova, 1912

Cubism was one of the most significant art movements of the 20th century. It began in France about 1907, and flourished from 1910 through the 1920s. It was pioneered by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso.

Pablo Picasso's 1907 painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon was an early Cubist work. Georges Braque's 1908 Houses at L’Estaque (and related works) prompted the critic Louis Vauxcelles to refer to "bizarreries cubiques" (cubic oddities).

The first organized group exhibition by Cubists took place at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris in the spring of 1911. It included works by Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Fernand Léger, Robert Delaunay and Henri Le Fauconnier, but no works by Picasso and Braque were exhibited.

According to one art historian, there were three phases of Cubism. There was "Early Cubism", (from 1906 to 1908) when the movement was initially developed by Picasso and Braque. In the second phase, "High Cubism", (from 1909 to 1914), Juan Gris emerged as an important exponent after 1911. Finally "Late Cubism" (from 1914 to 1921) was the last phase of Cubism as a radical avant-garde movement. Douglas Cooper's emphasis on the work of Braque, Picasso, Gris (from 1911) and Léger (to a lesser extent) was an intentional value judgement.

Its methods

Cubism is a style of art which aims to show all of the possible viewpoints of a person or an object all at once. It is called Cubism because the items represented in the artworks look like they are made out of cubes and other geometrical shapes. Cubism was first started by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Analytical Cubism is the first type of cubism. Most analytical Cubists painted and drew in monochrome (only one colour) so that the person who was looking at the painting did not pay attention to colour, but only to the shapes and the forms that were being shown.

This was changed in 1912 when Picasso first started painting with colours and using collages. Collage is when you glue together different cut-up pieces of paper to make an artwork. This new form of Cubism was called Synthetic Cubism. Picasso invented collage because he was tired of the way he was making his art, and wanted to try out something new. Pablo Picasso created over 20,000 pictures. From 1912 to 1919 was Picasso's Synthetic Cubism Period.

Images for kids

Albert Gleizes, L'Homme au Balcon, Man on a Balcony (Portrait of Dr. Théo Morinaud), 1912, oil on canvas, 195.6 × 114.9 cm (77 × 45 1/4 in.), Philadelphia Museum of Art. Completed the same year that Albert Gleizes co-authored the book Du "Cubisme" with Jean Metzinger. Exhibited at Salon d'Automne, Paris, 1912, Armory show, New York, Chicago, Boston, 1913
The "Cubists" Dominate Paris' Fall Salon, The New York Times, October 8, 1911. Picasso's 1908 Seated Woman (Meditation) is reproduced along with a photograph of the artist in his studio (upper left). Metzinger's Baigneuses (1908–09) is reproduced top right. Also reproduced are works by Derain, Matisse, Friesz, Herbin, and a photo of Braque
Robert Delaunay, Simultaneous Windows on the City, 1912, 46 x 40 cm, Hamburger Kunsthalle, an example of Abstract Cubism
The Salon d'Automne of 1912, held in Paris at the Grand Palais from 1 October to 8 November. Joseph Csaky’s sculpture Groupe de femmes of 1911–12 is exhibited to the left, in front of two sculptures by Amedeo Modigliani. Other works by Section d'Or artists are shown (left to right): František Kupka, Francis Picabia, Jean Metzinger and Henri Le Fauconnier.
Paul Cézanne, Quarry Bibémus, 1898–1900, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Jean Metzinger, 1914–15, Soldat jouant aux échecs (Soldier at a Game of Chess, Le Soldat à la partie d'échecs), oil on canvas, 81.3 × 61 cm, Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago
Diego Rivera, Portrait de Messieurs Kawashima et Foujita, 1914
Le Corbusier, Assembly building, Chandigarh, India
Le Corbusier, Centre Le Corbusier (Heidi Weber Museum) in Zürich-Seefeld (Zürichhorn)
Le Salon Bourgeois, designed by André Mare for La Maison Cubiste, in the decorative arts section of the Salon d'Automne, 1912, Paris. Metzinger's Femme à l'Éventail on the left wall
Jacques Doucet's hôtel particulier, 33 rue Saint-James, Neuilly-sur-Seine
House of the Black Madonna in Prague, built by Josef Gočár in 1912
Villa Kovařovic in Prague by Josef Chochol
Georges Braque, 1909–10, La guitare (Mandora, La Mandore), oil on canvas, 71.1 x 55.9 cm, Tate Modern, London
Albert Gleizes, 1910, La Femme aux Phlox (Woman with Phlox), oil on canvas, 81 x 100 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Exhibited in Room 41, Salon des Indépendants 1911, Armory Show 1913
Georges Braque, 1910, Violin and Candlestick, oil on canvas, 60.96 x 50.17 cm, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Robert Delaunay, 1910–11, La ville no. 2, oil on canvas, 146 x 114 cm, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris
Marcel Duchamp, 1911, La sonate (Sonata), oil on canvas, 145.1 x 113.3 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Pablo Picasso, 1911, La Femme au Violon, oil on canvas, private collection, on long-term loan to Bavarian State Painting Collections, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Fernand Léger, 1911–1912, Les Fumeurs (The Smokers), oil on canvas, 129.2 x 96.5 cm, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Georges Braque, 1911–12, Man with a Guitar (Figure, L’homme à la guitare), oil on canvas, 116.2 x 80.9 cm, Museum of Modern Art
Jacques Villon, 1912, Girl at the Piano (Fillette au piano), oil on canvas, 129.2 x 96.4 cm, oval, Museum of Modern Art, New York. Exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show
Francis Picabia, 1912, La Source (The Spring), oil on canvas, 249.6 x 249.3 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Albert Gleizes, 1912–13, Les Joueurs de football (Football Players), oil on canvas, 225.4 x 183 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Jean Metzinger, 1912–1913, L'Oiseau bleu (The Blue Bird), oil on canvas, 230 x 196 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, 1913
Juan Gris, 1915, Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux (Still Life with Checked Tablecloth), oil and graphite on canvas, 116.5 x 89.2 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Leonard A. Lauder collection
Diego Rivera, 1915, Portrait of Ramón Gómez de la Serna, 109.6 × 90.2 cm. Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires
Jean Metzinger, April 1916, Femme au miroir (Femme à sa toilette, Lady at her Dressing Table), oil on canvas, 92.4 x 65.1 cm, private collection
Juan Gris, October 1916, Portrait of Josette, oil on canvas, 116 x 73 cm, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid
Pablo Picasso, 1918, Arlequin au violon (Harlequin with Violin), oil on canvas, 142 x 100.3 cm, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio
Gino Severini, 1919, Bohémien Jouant de L'Accordéon (The Accordion Player), Museo del Novecento, Milan
Albert Gleizes, 1920, Femme au gant noir (Woman with Black Glove), oil on canvas, 126 x 100 cm, National Gallery of Australia

Cubism facts for kids

Its methods

Images for kids

See also