Cubism, one of the most influential movements of 20th-century art, was originally regarded as a scandalous rebellion against artistic conventions. Yet, it acquired broad fame and affected many other artistic fields, including ballet and architecture. Here, we share the main facts on Cubism that can help you grasp this exciting artistic approach better.

Facts on Cubism: Major Influences

The Cubist artistic style was invented by Pablo Picasso, but the advent of this art movement happened under the strong influences of earlier works by Seurat and Cézanne. To be more precise, the two pioneering artists who created the first Cubist art were Picasso and Georges Braque. The first painting by Picasso holding traces of the Cubist style was the 1907 Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

Cubism drew heavily from African art, mainly tribal masks, which fascinated the early Cubist artists with an alternative form of realistic representation of shapes. Regarded as one of the branches of realism in art, Cubism, in turn, contributed heavily to the development of Futurism, Surrealism, and Constructivism in the 20th century.

Phases of Modern Cubism

Experts distinguish two major periods in the Cubist movement – the early one, Analytical Cubism, which lasted from 1908 to 1912, and the later Synthetic Cubism, dating from 1912 to 1919. Analytical Cubist works are easily recognizable because of the fragmented representation in a monochromatic color palette. Synthetic Cubist artists diversified the color palette and the spectrum of depicted forms by adding mixed media (e.g., collages).

Famous Cubist Artists

The most famous Cubist artists are Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, but the art movement quickly attracted many other popular artists of the early 20th century. It’s important to mention Juan Gris, Fernand Léger, Robert Delaunay, and Jean Metzinger as other notable figures in the Cubist movement.

Cubist Legacy and Innovations

The main innovation of Cubism was the denial of conventional perspective. Cubist artists departed from the classical depictions of objects dominating art since the Renaissance and attempted to present a more multi-dimensional image for their subjects from numerous perspectives at the same time. Thus, the signature Cubist style involves the view of subjects from multiple angles combined into a single composition. Cubist artists also pioneered the use of mixed-media collages, with some works combining newspaper, wallpaper, and textile materials with painting.

These were the main facts on Cubism that may highlight its role and importance in modern art. Much of the Cubist legacy has survived and transferred to contemporary abstract art.