Here are some facts about Cubism.
- Cubism was the first abstract art style. It began in 1907, was popular during the early part of the 20th century and had its origins in France and Spain.
- The movement largely ignored perspective, and tried to show objects or people from several different angles.
- The Cubist painters were also influenced by Native American and African art. Their works often featured cubes, cones, spheres and cylinders, and sometimes used collage techniques.
- Most people did not like or understand Cubist works when they first appeared. The name Cubism was meant to be insulting, and came about because of the angular, square look of many Cubist paintings.
- There were two main stages of Cubism, known as synthetic Cubism and analytic Cubism.
- The most important Cubist painters were Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Juan Gris.
- One of the best-known and most controversial Cubist paintings is Guernica by Picasso. The painting shows the horrors of war and measures 8 metres wide and 3.5 metres high.
- Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (The Ladies of Avignon) is one of the earliest and most famous Cubist works. It was influenced by African tribal masks and shocked people when it was displayed.
- ‘Pencil’ was supposedly the first word spoken by Picasso, and he produced his first painting at age 9. He is famous for his blue period and rose period, during which he painted mostly in those colours.
- Today, Picasso is one of the most influential artists, as well as one of the most valued. His painting Le Reve (The Dream) sold in 2013 for almost £100 million.
- Cubism also influenced modern architecture. One of the most famous architects to have been inspired by Cubist works was Le Corbusier, who was one of the first in his field to realize how cars affected city planning.
