Cubism: Pablo Picasso And Braque

Exploration Essay: Cubism Cubism was developed in the early twentieth century by Pablo Picasso (Stokstad and Cothren 516). Cubism can be described as small cubes and geometrical shapes that eventually form an image. According to Apollinaire, Podoksik, and Eimert, “it was the task of the viewer…to put this puzzle of various spatial views together into a whole” (29). This is evident in Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s artwork. Although Picasso and Braque worked together creating their own versions of cubism art, the paintings and other artwork were unique to their own style, color palette, and choice of subjects. Cubism, as stated previously, is a style of art that uses small cubes and other geometrical shapes to create an ending image. Cubism also includes various perspectives in one piece of art. There is not a single “vanishing point” of the painting, and therefore the three dimensional feel of artwork no longer exists in cubism. The multiple perspectives in a single piece of art were due to the artist’s desire to “capture the subject from all sides” (Apollinaire, et al. 29). To capture multiple perspectives in one piece of artwork, …show more content…
Although the painting is seen as the first Cubist work, before beginning the Cubist phase of his painting, he spent several years exploring African art. During this time the French empire was expanding into Africa, and African artifacts were being brought back to Paris museums. The press was abuzz with exaggerated stories of cannibalism and exotic tales about the African kingdom of Dahomey. Also talked about was the mistreatment of Africans in the Belgian Congo with Joseph Conrad 's popular book Heart of Darkness. It was natural therefore in this climate of African interest that Picasso would look towards African artifacts as inspiration for some of his