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Cubism

Definition

Cubism was an early 20th-century art movement pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. It revolutionized the way objects were depicted by breaking them down into geometric shapes and presenting multiple viewpoints simultaneously.

Analogy

Imagine looking at a building from different angles - you see the front, side, and top all at once. Now imagine if you could combine those different perspectives into one image. That's what Cubist artists did - they fragmented objects into geometric forms and presented them from various viewpoints to create a multidimensional representation.

Related terms

Analytical Cubism: The initial phase of Cubism where objects were deconstructed into multiple facets or planes to depict different viewpoints simultaneously.

Synthetic Cubism: The later phase of Cubism where artists incorporated collage elements such as newspaper clippings or fabric onto their paintings to represent objects in a more abstracted manner.

Abstraction: While not exclusively associated with Cubism, abstraction refers to the simplification or distortion of forms in art to move away from realistic representation towards a more conceptual or expressive approach.