🎨 Cubism: Understanding this Revolutionary Movement in Painting
Cubism is not just a style among others in the history of painting: it is a true visual revolution that has disrupted the traditional codes of artistic representation. Emerging in the early 20th century, this innovative movement challenged classical perspective to propose a fragmented, intellectual, and multiple vision of reality. Born from the need to reinvent the way of seeing and representing the world, cubism marks a decisive turning point in modern art.
In this article, Alpha Reproduction invites you to dive into the fascinating world of Cubism: from its origins to the great works that made it famous, through its iconic artists and its contemporary legacy.
👨🎨 2. The Founders of Cubism
Which painter invented cubism?
Cubism is not the work of a single artist, but rather the result of a close collaboration between two major figures of modern painting: Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Together, they built a new visual language that would leave a lasting mark on the history of art.
Pablo Picasso & Georges Braque: the pioneers
It all began in 1907 when Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Inspired by African art and Cézanne's explorations, he deliberately breaks away from traditional perspective to represent the bodies in an angular and fragmented way.
Shortly after, Georges Braque, influenced by this painting, also begins similar experiments. Between 1908 and 1914, the two artists work side by side, in an intense artistic dialogue. Together, they develop the foundations of cubism: geometric shapes, reduction of colors, multiple planes. Braque would later say:
"We were like two climbers tied together by the same rope."
Cézanne's role as a precursor
If Picasso and Braque are the founders of Cubism, Paul Cézanne is undoubtedly its precursor. At the end of the 19th century, Cézanne was already exploring the simplification of natural forms into cylinders, spheres, and cones. His search for an underlying structure in nature profoundly influenced the young painters of the early 20th century.
It is particularly through his famous phrase – "To treat nature by the cylinder, the sphere, the cone" – that we measure Cézanne's impact on the emergence of cubism.
🔍 3. How to Recognize a Cubist Work?
Visual and technical characteristics
A cubist work is recognized at first glance... provided you know what to observe. Cubism breaks away from realistic representation to offer a fragmented and conceptual vision of the subject. Among the most striking elements:
Geometric shapes: objects and figures are decomposed into cubes, cones, spheres, or cylinders.
Multiplication of viewpoints: instead of a single angle, the artist combines multiple perspectives in one image.
Reduced palette: especially in the analytical phase, the colors are subdued (brown, gray, ochre tones), emphasizing the structure.
Collage and textures: in synthetic cubism, real elements (papers, newspapers, wood) are integrated into the canvas.
Geometric shapes and deconstruction
The basic principle of cubism is simple but radical: deconstruct to reconstruct better. The artist no longer seeks to imitate nature, but to understand it and represent it in its fundamental aspects.
Thus, a violin, a face, or a chair are analyzed, then "deconstructed" into planes and volumes that coexist in the same visual space.
Analytical Cubism vs Synthetic Cubism
Cubism is generally divided into two main phases:
Analytical Cubism (1909–1912)
This first phase is the most abstract. The shapes are fragmented into a mosaic of small planes, often in a monochrome palette. The goal: to analyze the subject in depth, to "dissect" it visually.
Synthetic Cubism (1912–1919)
More readable and more colorful, this second phase of Cubism reconstructs simplified forms. It is also the time of the first collages in the history of art, where everyday materials are invited onto the canvas.
📅 4. The Major Periods of Cubism
Cubism did not emerge all at once. It evolved in several stages, each marking a step forward in artists' thinking about the representation of reality. Here is an overview of the major periods of cubism, from its origins to its flourishing after World War I.
🟫 The beginnings (1907–1909)
This experimental period marks the first steps of Cubism. Picasso, with Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), and Braque, with Maisons à l’Estaque (1908), begin to simplify forms and abandon traditional perspective. They draw inspiration from African masks, Oceanic art, and Cézanne. The works are still figurative, but already herald a break.
🎨 1. The Young Ladies of Avignon – Pablo Picasso (1907)
This work is often considered the starting point of cubism. Five female figures with angular bodies and masked faces occupy a deconstructed space. Inspired by African and Oceanic art, Picasso breaks with classical perspective and initiates a fragmented representation of the human body. This painting shocks with its radicality and frontal approach.
🏠 2. Houses at l'Estaque – Georges Braque (1908)
Painted after a stay in L'Estaque, this urban landscape marks a radical geometric simplification. The houses become massive, angular volumes, and the trees are reduced to the essentials. Cézanne's influence is very perceptible here, but Braque pushes the fragmentation of space further.
🧑🎨 3. Nude with Drapery – Pablo Picasso (1907)
Painted just before Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, this nude already announces Picasso's desire to distort and flatten the human figure. The outlines are simplified, the volumes are put in tension, and the artist's gaze departs from academic conventions. It is a significant transition towards cubism.
🧱 4. Large Nude – Georges Braque (1908)
In this work, Braque explores the deconstruction of the female body, moving away from traditional sensuality. The model is treated in geometric, almost architectural blocks. Shadow and light are used to accentuate the form, without resorting to classical perspective.
🎭 5. Three Women – Pablo Picasso (1908)
Often regarded as a logical continuation of the Demoiselles d’Avignon, this work continues the study of massive and sculptural forms. The three female figures resemble primitive statues, with an accentuated monumentality. The volumes are compact, and secondary details are eliminated.
📐 Analytical Cubism (1909–1912)
This is the most complex phase of the movement. Artists push deconstruction to the point of partial abstraction.
The objects and characters are fragmented into angular, almost crystalline facets.
The colors become neutral (grays, browns, ochres), so as not to distract attention from the structure. The goal is to intellectually explore form and space.
🎻 1. The Portuguese – Georges Braque (1911–1912)
This painting is emblematic of analytical cubism. The image of a musician playing the guitar is almost unrecognizable, broken down into a mosaic of small geometric planes. The palette is limited (ochres, grays, browns), reinforcing the intellectual aspect of the work. Fragments of letters and numbers can be distinguished, enhancing the visual abstraction.
🧔 2. Portrait of Ambroise Vollard – Pablo Picasso (1910)
In this portrait of the famous art dealer, Picasso analyzes the face and silhouette of his model by reducing them to angular and overlapping shapes. The different viewpoints are brought together in the same pictorial space. The subject seems almost to dissolve into the background, so much so that the fragmentation is pushed to the extreme.
🎨 3. Man with a Guitar – Georges Braque (1911)
The musical instrument, the quintessential cubist motif, is treated here as a pretext for formal experimentation. The shapes interlock, the angles multiply, and the volumes are analyzed in all their facets. The work fully embodies the spirit of analytical cubism: a reflective, intellectual, and structured painting.
📚 4. The Man with the Violin – Pablo Picasso (1911–1912)
Here again, Picasso chose a musician as the subject. The image is fractured, almost indecipherable at first glance. The absence of bright colors emphasizes the structure and spatial complexity. It is a painting to "read" more than to look at, where the viewer's eye must recompose the puzzle.
📰 5. Portrait of Picasso – Juan Gris (1912)
Juan Gris, souvent considéré comme le troisième grand nom du cubisme, adopte une approche plus structurée et lumineuse que ses aînés. Dans ce portrait, il conserve l’esprit analytique du cubisme tout en clarifiant les formes. Les éléments sont toujours décomposés, mais de manière plus lisible et graphique.
🟨 Synthetic Cubism (1912–1919)
Faced with the complexity of analytical cubism, artists seek to simplify. The shapes become more readable, the colors more vibrant, the compositions more open. It is also the invention of collage, a true artistic revolution: wallpapers, newspapers, wood, strings... make their entrance onto the canvases.
📰 1. Still Life with a Caned Chair – Pablo Picasso (1912)
This painting is considered one of the first works of synthetic cubism. Picasso introduces a revolutionary element: a collage of printed oilcloth with a caning pattern, attached to the canvas with a rope. The work combines drawing, painting, and real objects to synthesize an image in a new way. A foundational piece in the history of collage in modern art.
🎸 2. Guitar – Pablo Picasso (1912–1913)
Cut-out cardboard sculpture, then in metal, this work marks the transition from pictorial cubism to 3D. By deconstructing a guitar into flat shapes, Picasso creates an open structure, like a collage in space. It perfectly embodies the synthetic idea: simplification, new materials, and a break with classical sculptural tradition.
🧾 3. The Journal – Juan Gris (1916)
Juan Gris est l’un des maîtres du cubisme synthétique. Dans Le Journal, il superpose papier, lettres, objets du quotidien, et formes peintes dans une composition harmonieuse. Ses œuvres se distinguent par leur clarté, leur équilibre graphique et une utilisation plus audacieuse de la couleur que chez Picasso ou Braque.
🍇 4. Compote dish and glass – Georges Braque (1912)
Here, Braque assembles painted and glued elements (wallpapers, printed letters), in a composition that evokes a table still life. The painting is a play of textures, typographies, and muted colors. This work marks a turning point towards a more readable and accessible cubism.
🎶 5. Still Life with Checkered Tablecloth – Juan Gris (1915)
Gris introduit ici un motif décoratif fort (la nappe à carreaux) pour structurer une composition à la fois rigoureuse et poétique. L’espace est aplani, les objets sont stylisés mais reconnaissables. Ce tableau montre à quel point le cubisme synthétique peut allier rigueur géométrique et sens du décor, préfigurant l’art déco.
🎖️ Cubism after World War I
After 1918, cubism spreads widely. It influences not only painting but also architecture, sculpture, design, and fashion. Some artists like Fernand Léger introduce mechanical elements into their works, giving rise to an industrial cubism.
Cubism continues to evolve, but it gradually loses its radical character to integrate into a broader artistic language.
🖼️ 5. Famous Cubist Works
Cubism gave birth to some of the most striking works of modern art. These paintings embody the aesthetic break initiated by Picasso and Braque, as well as the richness of the visual explorations of the movement. Let's explore some emblematic masterpieces.
🎨 Iconic works of Cubism
Here are some must-see paintings that illustrate the diversity of Cubism:
revolutionary :
🎨 1. The Young Ladies of Avignon – Pablo Picasso (1907)
Considered the starting point of cubism, this work shows five nude women with angular and stylized faces, inspired by African art. Traditional perspective is rejected in favor of a fragmented, brutal, and expressive vision. This painting paves the way for a new representation of the human body.
🏠 2. Houses at l'Estaque – Georges Braque (1908)
This landscape painting simplifies architectural forms into geometric blocks. It embodies Braque's first steps towards a Cubist plastic language, influenced by Cézanne. Space becomes structure, houses become pure volumes.
🎻 3. The Portuguese – Georges Braque (1911)
A masterpiece of analytical cubism. The figure of a musician is deconstructed into a multitude of planes and fragments. The letters and numbers integrated into the composition herald the gradual abandonment of pure figuration in favor of an abstract graphic language.
🧔 4. Portrait of Ambroise Vollard – Pablo Picasso (1910)
In this portrait of the famous art dealer, Picasso pushes fragmentation to the extreme. The face merges into a tangle of planes, reflecting the psychological complexity of the subject. It is a major work of intellectual cubism.
📰 5. Still Life with a Caned Chair – Pablo Picasso (1912)
A foundational work of synthetic cubism, incorporating for the first time a collage (printed oilcloth). The painted object merges with real elements, blurring the boundaries between art and reality. It is one of the first mixed canvases in the history of modern art.
🎸 6. Guitar – Pablo Picasso (1912–1913)
Cardboard sculpture, then in metal, this guitar is a spatial revolution: it transposes the principles of cubism into the third dimension. It demonstrates the ability of cubism to go beyond the confines of painting.
📚 7. The Journal – Juan Gris (1916)
Juan Gris apporte au cubisme une clarté et une structure nouvelles. Dans cette œuvre, il mêle typographie, objets du quotidien et volumes simplifiés dans une composition équilibrée, à la fois décorative et rigoureuse.
🎼 8. Violin and Palette – Georges Braque (1909)
Here, Braque explores the relationship between object and abstraction. The violin is deconstructed and combined with other objects (palette, nails), in a fragmented pictorial space. Light is reduced to contrasts of planes.
🍇 9. Compote dish and glass – Georges Braque (1912)
A beautiful example of cubist still life. Braque incorporates collaged papers and works with shadows and shapes with sobriety. The work illustrates well the transition between analytical and synthetic cubism.
💠 10. Three Women – Fernand Léger (1921)
Although on the fringes of "pure" cubism, this work synthesizes the contributions of the movement. Léger adds his industrial touch, his tubular forms, and his bold colors. The female figures, massive and stylized, convey a mechanical vision of the human body.
🧠 6. Cubism by Theme
Cubism is not limited to a single form of expression. It applies to a wide variety of subjects that artists explore through a geometric and conceptual framework. Here are the main themes addressed by the cubists:
👤 Cubism and portrait
The cubist portrait deconstructs the human face to reveal a new truth, more inner than realistic. The features are simplified, fragmented, sometimes presented simultaneously from the front and in profile.
🎭 1. Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler – Pablo Picasso (1910)
Art dealer and supporter of Cubism, Kahnweiler is here represented in an extreme analytical style. His face and body are completely fragmented into small geometric planes. The painting, in brown-gray tones, requires a visual reading effort. The subject seems to almost disappear into the composition, reinforcing the idea that the psychological essence takes precedence over resemblance.
🧔 2. Portrait of Josette Gris – Juan Gris (1916)
In this synthetic work, Juan Gris depicts his wife Josette with great tenderness and a graphic clarity. Unlike analytical cubism, the forms are sharp, colorful, and stylized. The female figure is recognizable, while appreciating the geometric organization of the composition. A work balanced between abstraction and emotion.
🧠 3. Portrait of Pablo Picasso – Juan Gris (1912)
Hommage croisé entre deux maîtres du cubisme, ce portrait présente Picasso sous une forme très structurée, avec des volumes clairs et des aplats colorés. On reconnaît la silhouette et le visage du peintre dans une composition ordonnée et synthétique, presque architecturale.
🧓 4. Head of Woman (Fernande) – Pablo Picasso (1909)
Created at the very beginning of analytical cubism, this bronze sculpture represents the face of Fernande Olivier, Picasso's muse. Although it is a three-dimensional work, it adheres to cubist principles: fragmentation of volumes, geometric deformation, multiple viewpoints. A powerful work that heralds the cubist aesthetic even before its official name.
🎨 5. Dancer at the café – Jean Metzinger (1912–1913)
In this elegant and rhythmic work, Jean Metzinger captures the energy of a Parisian scene through a stylized dancer, depicted in a lively café atmosphere. The forms are geometric yet readable, the colors refined, and the composition dynamic. This painting embodies a bright and accessible synthetic cubism, halfway between abstraction and narration. Metzinger demonstrates here his talent for translating movement and grace with precise formal structure.
🍷 Cubism and still life
The still life is a central theme of cubism, as it allows for free play with shapes and planes. Bottles, glasses, musical instruments, or newspapers become pretexts for exploring visual structure.
📰 1. Glass, newspaper and bottle of Old Marc – Pablo Picasso (1913)
A typical work of synthetic cubism, this painting combines painting, drawing, and collage. Picasso introduces real elements such as newspaper, which he integrates into a still life scene. The object is no longer simply represented: it is reconstructed from visual and textual fragments in a harmonious composition.
🍎 2. Still Life with Compote Dish – Juan Gris (1914)
Juan Gris explores here a balanced and luminous approach to cubist still life. Fruits, a fruit bowl, and a carafe are stylized but easily identifiable. The whole is structured with great graphic clarity, paying homage to tradition while reinventing it.
🎻 3. Still Life with Violin – Georges Braque (1910)
In this work, Braque pushes further the decomposition of objects, particularly the violin, which he treats as an assembly of geometric planes. The background and the objects blend together, making the spatial hierarchy almost abstract. The work is sober in colors, but rich in textures and depth.
🌄 Cubism and Landscape
In the cubist landscape, natural or urban elements are translated into simple volumes. The viewer's gaze is invited to recompose the space from fragmented shapes.
🏘️ 1. The City – Fernand Léger (1919)
In this iconic post-war painting, Léger offers a mechanized and fragmented urban vision. Buildings, stairs, figures, and machines intersect in a composition rhythmically structured by cylindrical and angular forms. It is a cubist vision of the modern, industrial, and dynamic landscape.
🌳 2. Trees at Estaque – Georges Braque (1908)
Painted during Braque's stay in L'Estaque, this landscape is one of the very first to abandon traditional perspective. The trees and hills become solid, almost sculptural forms, arranged according to a geometric logic. The painting clearly announces the transition to analytical cubism.
🏞️ 3. Landscape of Céret – Juan Gris (1913)
In this work, Gris applies cubist rigor to the Mediterranean landscape. The hills, roofs, and vegetation are reduced to pure forms, treated with flat colors and a sharp sense of structure. The gaze is guided through a composition that is both abstract and balanced.
⛰️ 4. Bibémus Quarry – Paul Cézanne (1898–1900)
Dans cette œuvre réalisée à Aix-en-Provence, Paul Cézanne explore la structure du paysage en réduisant la nature à des formes géométriques simples et puissantes. Rochers, falaises et arbres sont traités comme des blocs de couleurs imbriqués, dans une composition à la fois solide et vibrante. Ce tableau est un prélude au cubisme : il montre comment Cézanne commence à rompre avec la perspective traditionnelle pour privilégier la construction par les volumes, anticipant ainsi l’approche de Braque et Picasso.
🎼 Cubism and music
Music is a frequent subject, particularly through the representation of instruments such as violins, guitars, or clarinets. Their shape lends itself perfectly to cubist treatment.
🎷 1. Clarinet and bottle of rum on a mantelpiece – Juan Gris (1911–1912)
In this musical still life, Gris explores the geometrization of an instrument while integrating it into a domestic setting. The clarinet, the objects placed on the mantelpiece, and the play of shadows blend together in a composition that is both analytical and poetic, where the instrument becomes form and structure.
🎻 2. The Violin (or The Mandolin and the Score) – Pablo Picasso (1912)
In this work of synthetic cubism, Picasso introduces elements of musical score alongside a stylized string instrument. The mandolin, the table, and the score are fused into a rhythmic composition that evokes both visual and auditory music.
🎼 3. Cello and sheet music – Georges Braque (1913–1914)
Here, Braque pushes the concept of collage further, integrating letters, fragments of sheet music, and shapes of instruments into a sober and structured canvas. The painting becomes a kind of pictorial score, where sounds seem to emerge from the cubist forms themselves.
🎵 The Three Musicians – Pablo Picasso (1921)
This iconic work of synthetic cubism depicts three stylized musicians – a clarinet player, a guitarist, and an accordion singer – formed from flat, colorful, and interlocking shapes like a geometric puzzle. Picasso applies the principles of collage in painting, while making the scene lively and rhythmic. Behind its apparent simplicity, the painting is a masterpiece of composition, harmony, and symbolism. It reflects the enduring influence of cubism, tinged with a touch of whimsy and modernity.
👩 Cubism and female figure
The woman is a constant motif in Picasso's work, often transformed into an almost sculptural entity. The body is geometrized, fragmented, but always powerfully present.
👩🎨 1. Woman Sitting in a Armchair – Pablo Picasso (1910)
In this work of analytical cubism, Picasso fragments the female body into overlapping planes. The face, hands, dress, and armchair intertwine in a complex structure. The woman becomes a visual puzzle, both mysterious and introspective, where each detail is deconstructed and reconstructed according to cubist logic.
🪞 2. Woman with a Mandolin – Georges Braque (1910)
This composition blends music and female figure, two themes dear to cubism. Braque reduces the woman and her instrument to a set of interlocking geometric shapes, in a sober and delicate palette. The work exudes a calm and meditative atmosphere, almost sculptural.
🧍Woman Sitting – Pablo Picasso (1913)
A synthetic cubist portrait where the female figure is stylized to the extreme, made of colorful planes and dynamic angular shapes.
The Woman with the Fan – Jean Metzinger (1913)
Elegant and refined portrait of a seated woman, in a poetic cubist style. The shapes are decomposed with softness and precision.
Woman Reading – Albert Gleizes (1920)
Stylized representation of a woman absorbed in her reading, where the curved lines of the body are integrated into a fluid geometric universe.
Woman with a Mandolin – Pablo Picasso (1910)
The female face merges into the curves of the instrument, the two fusing into a composition of interlocking volumes, almost sculptural.
🧑🎨 7. Great Artists of Cubism
If Picasso and Braque are the major figures of Cubism, they are not the only ones who shaped this revolutionary movement. Other artists, each in their own way, enriched this innovative aesthetic and contributed to its spread across Europe.
🎨 Cubism: which artists?
Cubism has attracted many painters over the years. Some have become iconic figures of the movement, while others, sometimes less known, have left a significant mark on it.
🧱 Georges Braque
Co-founder of Cubism alongside Picasso, Georges Braque is one of the main artisans of analytical Cubism. He favors a rigorous approach to form, a sober palette, and a balance between structure and harmony.
🧱 1. The Gueridon – Georges Braque (1911)
In this still life typical of analytical cubism, Braque depicts a small table on which various objects are placed: sheet music, glasses, bottles. The whole is decomposed into a multitude of geometric planes, with a palette reduced to browns, grays, and ochres. The viewer is invited to mentally reconstruct the scene. The work perfectly embodies the cubist idea of fragmentation of reality and simultaneity of viewpoints.
🧱 2. Le Quotidien du Midi – Georges Braque (1914)
This painting marks the transition to synthetic cubism, with the introduction of typographic elements and collage. The title of the newspaper, "Le Quotidien du Midi", appears in the composition as a fragment integrated into the rest of the scene. Braque plays with material, textures, and letters, creating an image that is both readable and abstract. It is a key work in the invention of collage.
🧱 3. The Great Nude – Georges Braque (1907–1908)
Painted at the juncture between Fauvism and Cubism, this work heralds Braque's stylistic evolution. The female body is treated as a sculptural volume, almost architectural, with angular contours and marked simplification. One can already feel the influence of Cézanne and a desire for spatial construction that foreshadows Cubism. This painting links the body and space, between figuration and abstraction.
🧊 Juan Gris
Spanish painter, Juan Gris brings a touch of clarity, precision, and color to synthetic cubism. His style is more orderly, more decorative, and often more readable than that of his contemporaries.
🧊 1. Still Life with Blue Checkered Tablecloth – Juan Gris (1915)
Cette œuvre est un exemple parfait du cubisme synthétique lumineux de Juan Gris. L’artiste y assemble bouteille, verre, journal et assiette sur une nappe à carreaux très graphique, dans une composition soigneusement structurée. Contrairement au cubisme analytique, les objets restent lisibles, et la couleur joue un rôle décoratif essentiel. L’ensemble dégage une sensation de rigueur, d’élégance et d’harmonie visuelle.
🧊 2. The Musician's Table – Juan Gris (1914)
In this painting, Gris stages stylized musical elements (sheet music, instruments, guitar) on a table in distorted perspective. The objects are treated in flat colors, with an almost architectural logic. It is a work that conveys the musicality of cubism through form and color, while maintaining great readability. It reflects the constant link between music and painting in Juan Gris.
🧊 3. The Sitting Harlequin – Juan Gris (1919)
Cette œuvre tardive illustre l’évolution du style de Gris vers un cubisme plus expressif et théâtral. L’arlequin, figure classique de la commedia dell’arte, est représenté dans une pose calme mais stylisée, avec des formes planes, des motifs géométriques et une palette vive. L’œuvre incarne la synthèse entre figure humaine, décor stylisé et composition géométrique, signature du style mature de Juan Gris.
🏗️ Fernand Léger
Léger develops a form of industrial cubism, influenced by modernity and the machine. His works are colorful, dynamic, and highlight the visual rhythm of mechanical forms.
🏗️ 1. The Woman in Blue – Fernand Léger (1912–1913)
This striking work illustrates Léger's transition to a personal, massive, and dynamic cubism. The female figure, imposing and stylized, is constructed like a mechanical whole, with cylindrical shapes, accentuated contours, and a reduced palette. Unlike analytical cubism, Léger here favors the clarity of volumes and the strength of contrast, foreshadowing his industrial style.
🏗️ 2. The Discs – Fernand Léger (1918)
With The Discs, Léger fully immerses himself in a machinist and abstract aesthetic, where circles and mechanical shapes become the sole subjects of the painting. The work evokes the mechanization of the modern world after World War I. It is a visual symphony of rhythm, color, and geometry, on the border between cubism and abstract art.
🏗️ 3. The Mechanic – Fernand Léger (1920)
In this emblematic composition, Léger represents a modern worker in the manner of a machine-body. The arms and face are stylized into tubes and metallic shapes. The work illustrates the fusion between man and machine, a central theme of his painting during the interwar period. With its bold colors and powerful shapes, The Mechanic embodies a dynamic and committed cubism, looking towards the industrial future.
The paintings of Fernand Léger
🎨Jean Metzinger – Portrait of a Pioneer of Cubism
A key figure of French cubism, Jean Metzinger established himself not only as a painter but also as a theorist of the movement, alongside Albert Gleizes. His works are distinguished by their rigorous structure, their formal clarity, and their desire to make cubism readable, even in abstraction.
🧩 1. Soldier at a Game of Chess – Jean Metzinger (1914–1915)
Painted during World War I, this work illustrates a suspended moment: a soldier playing chess. Metzinger blends human figure, object, and architecture in a fragmented and rhythmic composition. The game of chess becomes a silent metaphor for war, and the scene is structured according to a synthetic cubist logic, balanced between abstraction and narration.
🧩 2. Nude at the Fireplace – Jean Metzinger (1910)
In this intimate painting, Metzinger applies the principles of analytical cubism to the female nude. The body is cut into angular planes, while the chimney and elements of the decor are integrated into the overall composition. The work evokes a constructed interior space, where form takes precedence over sensuality, in a rigorous yet elegant style.
🧩 3. Bathers – Jean Metzinger (1913)
In this outdoor scene, Metzinger transposes the classic theme of bathers into a fluid cubist aesthetic. The female bodies are stylized, almost sculptural, integrated into a fragmented landscape. The whole is treated with softened forms and light colors, revealing a more poetic and harmonious cubism, halfway between abstraction and figuration.
The paintings of Jean Metzinger
🧠 Albert Gleizes – The thinker-builder of Cubism
Painter, theorist, and co-author of the manifesto On Cubism, Albert Gleizes holds a major place in the history of Cubism. Unlike Picasso and Braque, Gleizes develops a style that is more rhythmic, spacious, and dynamic, influenced by science, spirituality, and the observation of reality.
🧠 1. Portrait of Jacques Nayral – Albert Gleizes (1911)
In this emblematic portrait, Gleizes fully applies the principles of analytical cubism to a human figure. The face of Jacques Nayral, friend and art critic, is fragmented into interlocking volumes, while remaining recognizable. The background and the figure respond to each other in a rhythmic construction, where space is decomposed into facets. The work embodies a intellectual and structured cubism, faithful to Gleizes' theoretical vision.
🧠 2. The Man on the Balcony – Albert Gleizes (1912)
Presented at the Salon des Indépendants, this monumental canvas combines human figure, architectural elements, and visual rhythm in a bold composition. The body, seen from multiple angles, overlaps with the urban backdrop. The work evokes the simultaneity of viewpoints and conveys the movement of the modern city through a fluid, almost lyrical cubism.
🧠 3. Composition for "The Woman with the Horse" – Albert Gleizes (1911–1912)
One of Gleizes' most famous works, The Woman with the Horse features a female figure and a horse in a monumental composition with dynamic forms. The curved lines and circular volumes convey a cubism in motion, where the figure is no longer static but integrated into a spatial flow. The work symbolizes the fusion between geometric structure and human sensitivity, characteristic of Gleizes' unique style.
The paintings of Albert Gleizes
🌎 Diego Rivera – From Parisian Cubism to Revolutionary Murals
Before becoming the great Mexican muralist we know, Diego Rivera was, between 1912 and 1917, an active participant in cubism on the Parisian artistic scene. During this period, he adopted a style influenced by Picasso, Braque, and Juan Gris, while integrating his own sensibility, particularly through a brighter palette and more massive forms.
👥 Portrait of Messrs. Kawashima and Foujita – Diego Rivera (1914)
In this work, Diego Rivera applies the principles of analytical cubism to an intimate and structured double portrait. The two male figures are fragmented into interlocking geometric volumes, with a rigorous treatment of planes, characteristic of the artist's Parisian period. The faces and costumes blend into a dense composition, with sober tones and angular contours. Despite the visual deconstruction, Rivera manages to preserve a subtle human relationship between the two models, offering a scene that is both analytical and deeply expressive. This painting demonstrates Rivera's technical and intellectual mastery within European cubist circles.
👩🦰 Two Women (Portrait of Angelina Beloff) – Diego Rivera (1914)
An intimate and structured work where Rivera merges cubist language with a personal and emotional dimension. The two female figures – including Angelina Beloff, his partner – are represented through interlocking geometric shapes, in a dense and silent composition. The sober palette, almost earthy, reinforces the gravity and restraint of the scene. Although devoid of explicit narrative elements, this work suggests a profound humanity, in a context of inner and artistic transformation.
Two Women is a rare example of introspective cubism, where form becomes the language of emotion.
🧔 Portrait of Ramón Gómez de la Serna – Diego Rivera (1915)
A striking work where Rivera applies the cubist language to the figure of an avant-garde writer. In this portrait of Ramón Gómez de la Serna, a famous Spanish author, the face and body are fragmented into interlocking planes, in a dense and thoughtful construction. The neutral and contrasting palette highlights the depth of the gaze and the intellectual intensity of the character.
This painting illustrates Rivera's desire to capture the essence of a personality through structure, rather than through pure likeness.
Portrait of Ramón Gómez de la Serna is a powerful example of psychological cubism, where each line contributes to an exploration of the mind.
🌀 Marcel Duchamp
It is impossible to talk about Cubism without mentioning Marcel Duchamp, a singular and visionary figure of the movement. His approach, more intellectual and conceptual, challenged the traditional codes of Cubist painting. Duchamp explored the notion of movement, visual decomposition, and the perception of time, particularly in works like Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2.
🚆 Sad young man in a train – Marcel Duchamp (1911–1912)
In this intriguing work, Marcel Duchamp explores the superposition of forms, movements, and mental states, moving away from traditional cubism to incorporate an almost kinetic dimension. Sad Young Man in a Train presents a fragmented human figure, seen from different angles, as if the viewer's gaze slips from one moment to the next. The melancholy of the subject contrasts with the dynamic complexity of the composition. Duchamp already questions the notion of time frozen in the image, foreshadowing his future conceptual explorations. It is a pivotal work, at the crossroads of cubism, futurism, and experimental thought.
🪜 Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 – Marcel Duchamp (1912)
A true manifesto work, Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 marks a radical break in the history of modern art. By merging analytical cubism and Italian futurism, Marcel Duchamp offers here a vision of the human body in motion, fragmented and repeated in space, like a mechanical sequence. The effect is both abstract and dynamic, destabilizing traditional references of figure and time. Far from a simple academic nude, the work becomes a visual experience of movement, a reflection on the gaze in action. Rejected by the cubists but acclaimed in the United States, this painting has become a symbol of revolutionary avant-garde.
🟤 Henri Le Fauconnier
A central member of Parisian cubism, Henri Le Fauconnier played a decisive role in the dissemination of the movement in the early 1910s. His style is characterized by a monumental, dense, and architectural painting, where the forms are massive and sculptural. He applies the principles of analytical cubism to various subjects – figures, landscapes, portraits – while developing a rich and earthy palette.
🌾 Abundance – Henri Le Fauconnier (1910–1911)
In this powerful and compact work, Henri Le Fauconnier explores the monumentality of the human figure, integrating it into a geometrized and stable environment. Abundance represents a woman with massive forms, a symbol of fertility and strength, treated through a cubist deconstruction, made of angular planes, interlocking volumes, and earthy tones.
🐻 The Mountaineers Attacked by Bears – Henri Le Fauconnier (1912)
In this dramatic and monumental work, Henri Le Fauconnier infuses cubism with a rare narrative and symbolic intensity. The Mountain Men Attacked by Bears depicts a primitive struggle between man and nature, represented by a angular composition, rhythmically structured by powerful volumes and sharp lines.
🦌 The Hunter – Henri Le Fauconnier (1911)
In this dense and imposing work, Henri Le Fauconnier gives cubism an epic and earthly dimension. The Hunter represents a solitary male figure, captured in a massive geometric form architecture, where the body seems to merge with the surrounding landscape. The subject, both human and archetypal, becomes an element of the mineral world that surrounds it.
The paintings of Henri Le Fauconnier
🐂 Pablo Picasso
It is impossible to talk about Cubism without mentioning Pablo Picasso. His inexhaustible creativity led him to explore all facets of the movement, from the most experimental to the most synthetic. He managed to impose a unique vision, between primitive art, symbolism, and formal innovation.
🪑 Figure in an armchair – Pablo Picasso (1909–1910)
This cubist portrait is an emblematic example of analytical cubism from the period 1909–1910. In Figure in a Armchair, Pablo Picasso deconstructs the human figure and its environment into a complex entanglement of angular shapes and interlocking volumes, where the armchair, the background, and the body merge into a single visual structure.
🎨 2. Woman with Pears – Pablo Picasso (1909)
Painted just after Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, this work shows the direct influence of Cézanne. The female body is treated as a sculptural volume, massive and angular, with an almost mineral light. This painting marks a transitional stage between the pre-cubist style and pure analytical cubism. The approach is still figurative, but already deeply structured.
🎭 Harlequin with Violin – Pablo Picasso (1918)
Painted in 1918, this work marks a transitional period in the career of Pablo Picasso, between synthetic cubism and a return to a more readable figuration. The figure of the harlequin, a recurring motif in his work, is here represented with flattened shapes, simplified contours, and a clean composition.
❓ Guernica: cubist or surrealist?
Guernica (1937), often perceived as a cubist work, is actually a mix of styles. It features cubist fragmentation, but also an emotional charge characteristic of surrealism. Painted in response to the bombing of the Spanish city of Guernica, this black and white mural is a cry of revolt against war.
It proves that the tools of cubism can also be used to denounce horror, not just to analyze form.
🔲 Mondrian: cubist or neo-plasticist?
Piet Mondrian, although associated with the De Stijl movement, went through a cubist phase before turning to pure abstraction. His work on lines and planes was heavily influenced by Picasso and Braque.
The paintings of Piet Mondrian
🎨 Matisse and Cubism: an ambiguous relationship
Henri Matisse is not a cubist, but he crossed paths with it. He criticized certain forms of the movement, while sometimes adopting a geometric simplification close to cubism in his cut-outs.
🏞️ Cézanne, spiritual father of the movement
Although he died before the official birth of Cubism, Paul Cézanne profoundly influenced all the Cubists. His obsession with volumes, planes, and the geometric structure of the natural world paved the way for a new way of painting.
🧠 The Cubist version of the Mona Lisa: fantasy or contemporary tribute?
Imagining The Mona Lisa in a cubist style has become a frequent artistic exercise in the 21st century. While Leonardo da Vinci is at the opposite end of cubism, modern artists enjoy reinterpreting his work by playing with cubist codes: fragmentation, superposition, deconstructed colors.
These tributes are not part of historical cubism, but testify to its lasting influence in the artistic imagination.
🏙️ 8. Cubism Today
Although it was born in the early 20th century, cubism has not remained frozen in museums. It has profoundly influenced the evolution of modern art and continues to inspire contemporary artists, designers, and even architects. Its innovative spirit, formal freedom, and quest for structure still find multiple resonances today.
🧩 Abstract Cubism
Cubism laid the foundations of modern abstraction. By breaking away from classical perspective and the faithful representation of reality, it paved the way for movements such as constructivism, futurism, and geometric abstraction.
Artists like Mondrian and Malevitch adopted his principles to push even further into pure abstraction.
🎨 Contemporary Cubism
Today, some artists reinterpret cubism by incorporating new materials, digital tools, or current themes. This approach is sometimes referred to as neo-cubism, to describe these processes that draw inspiration from formal deconstruction while adding a contemporary dimension.
🖌️ How to do cubism today?
Creating a modern cubist work is:
🔹 Fragment reality into simple shapes
🔹 Overlay multiple viewpoints
🔹 Use various mediums (painting, collage, digital)
🔹 Think about structure rather than appearance
Many artists also explore 3D cubism, with sculptures or installations.
🏛️ Cubism in Design and Architecture
The influence of cubism extends far beyond the realm of painting. It has marked:
🔹 L’architecture : avec des bâtiments aux formes angulaires, aux volumes emboîtés
🔹 Le design graphique : usage de la géométrie, de la répétition et du contraste
🔹 Le mobilier : meubles aux lignes cubiques, parfois asymétriques
🔹 La mode : imprimés géométriques et coupes structurées
🧭 9. Conclusion
Cubism revolutionized our way of seeing and representing the world. By rejecting the single perspective inherited from the Renaissance, the Cubists opened a breach towards modernity, the plurality of viewpoints, and formal reflection.
More than just a style, cubism is an innovative visual language, an invitation to think about the image differently.
His influence is immense: he shaped abstraction, inspired design and architecture, and continues to fuel contemporary creation.
Understanding cubism is therefore understanding a key stage in the history of art, but also grasping the foundations of many movements that followed it.
Whether you are an art lover, collector, or creator, diving into the cubist universe means exploring a world of shapes, intelligence, and freedom.
❓ FAQ about Cubism
🔹 What is the definition of cubism?
Cubism is an artistic movement that emerged in the early 20th century, characterized by the decomposition of forms, the multiplication of viewpoints, and the use of geometric shapes.
🔹 Who invented cubism?
Cubism was founded by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Their close collaboration laid the foundations of the movement as early as 1907.
🔹 What is the difference between analytical and synthetic cubism?
The analytical cubism (1909–1912) fragments shapes into a multitude of small planes, with sober colors. The synthetic cubism (1912–1919) reconstructs more readable shapes, sometimes integrating real elements like paper or fabric.
🔹 Does cubism still exist today?
Yes, cubism continues to influence contemporary art, design, fashion, and architecture. Many artists still draw inspiration from it in their modern creations.
🔹 What is the most famous cubist work?
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso is often considered the founding work of cubism. However, Guernica, although later and more politically engaged, remains one of the most powerful expressions.
🏢 FAQ about Alpha Reproduction
🔹 What is Alpha Reproduction?
Alpha Reproduction is a store specialized in high-end artistic reproduction. We offer works inspired by the greatest masters in the history of art, created with care and passion.
🔹 Are the paintings handmade?
Yes, all our reproductions are hand-painted by experienced artists, using museum-quality materials. Each piece is unique.
🔹 Can we order a cubist artwork?
Absolutely. We offer a selection of cubist reproductions, including works inspired by Picasso, Braque, Gris, or Léger. You can also order a custom reproduction according to your preferences.
🔹 Where do you deliver?
We deliver worldwide. Delivery times vary by country, but we work with reliable carriers to ensure secure delivery.
🔹 What is the return policy?
At Alpha Reproduction, customer satisfaction is paramount. You have a 14-day period after receipt to return a work if it does not suit you, under certain conditions.
🔹 Where can I see your catalog?
You can discover all our collections and new arrivals directly on our website:
👉 https://alphareproduction.com
