Cubism Art History: How Cubism Changed Seeing and Making Art
Cubism changed how we see objects. Born in Paris in the early 1900s, Cubism broke objects into planes and showed multiple viewpoints at once. If you ever felt confused by a Cubist painting, this short guide will make it simple and useful.
How it started: Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque are the names most tied to Cubism. Around 1907 they began experimenting after Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. They borrowed ideas from Paul Cézanne's planes and from African and Iberian sculpture. Those sources pushed them to break form and build new visual rules.
Two main phases matter. Analytical Cubism (about 1908-1912) fragments objects into small angular planes and uses a narrow palette. Synthetic Cubism (after about 1912) rebuilt images with simpler shapes, brighter colors, and collage bits like newspaper or wallpaper. Those changes made Cubism a flexible toolkit, not a single look.
Key Artists and Works
Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon shocked viewers with distorted faces and flat planes. Braque's Violin and Palette shows his study of shape and space. Juan Gris brought sharper geometry and clear composition. Later artists like Fernand Léger and Robert Delaunay moved Cubist ideas into different directions, including architecture and design.
How to Read and Try Cubism
When you look at a Cubist painting, stop hunting for a single viewpoint. Notice overlapping planes, repeated shapes, and shifts in object parts. Ask which angles are shown and where the artist flattened space. Reading these choices reveals a picture of how the subject was built, not just how it looked.
If you want to try Cubism yourself, start simple. Pick a cup or a guitar and sketch it from three different angles. Break that sketch into planes, redraw each plane as a flat shape, and limit your colors. Try adding a scrap of paper or a printed label to create a modern collage effect.
Cubism changed more than painting. It fed graphic design, sculpture, architecture, and photography. Designers used its grid logic. Architects borrowed its geometric volumes. Even product makers copied Cubist balance for furniture and posters. That practical reach helps explain why Cubism still matters today.
You can see Cubism in major museums: the Musée Picasso and Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Tate Modern in London. Local modern art galleries often show Cubist-inspired works too. When you visit, spend a few quiet minutes tracing planes and comparing sketches to finished paintings.
Cubism pushed artists to question what pictures should do. Its core idea - showing how things are made, not just how they appear - keeps inspiring creators across media. Try spotting Cubist moves in posters, films, and product ads; once you see them, you won't miss them. Try sketching one object in three views this week.
Good starter reads include short bios of Picasso and Braque, plus a museum guide to key Cubist works. Online tours and high res images make studying details easy. Spend an hour this weekend comparing two Cubist paintings and note differences in shape, color, and rhythm daily.
