David Speedyman : Cubism: The Aftermath. Talk on 15th October 2015.
David began by reprising some of his earlier talk to the group: The cubist Revolution, in
which he had explained how Cubism was originated by George Braque and Pablo Picasso
in the early years of the twentieth century and how the name ‘Cubism’ had been coined by
Matisse’s contemptuous dismissal of paintings by Cezanne – that they were composed of
‘lots of little cubes’.
The title was adopted by the group of artists who painted in this new and revolutionary
manner, and David claimed that the first, ‘cubist’ painting was Picasso’s Demoiselles d’
Avignon, but he explained that Cezanne’s work was, indeed, a profound influence, with its
use of ‘shapes’ (such as cones and spheres as well as the cubes). David then explained the
basic techniques underlying cubism: the absence of perspectival depth, and that objects are
broken up and reassembled - that, instead of a single viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject
from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a more complex interpretation.
David then demonstrated how, through the works of artist’s such as Metzinger, Delaunay, Le
Fauconnier and others, the influence of Cubism spread, mainly with the exploration of
shapes within a flattened, multi-dimensional, facetted space. This developed into an
exploration and manipulation of colour as evidenced by the development of Orphism,
where, by exploiting colour relationships, the dynamic manipulation of space was continued.
He followed the influence of cubism through various art movements, such as Futurism – and
even Salvador Dali produced works showing this influence.
David then returned to Picasso’s works and showed how, throughout the years until his death,
he continued to explore the possibilities which cubism offered, of breaking down the
conventions of ‘realistic’ depiction, mainly in his portraits of the many women in his life. He
ended with the last portrait Picasso painted (a self portrait) and related this to ‘Demoiselles’,
where the basic principles which underlay that revolutionary and profoundly influential
painting, could still be seen.
The movement was pioneered by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, joined by Jean
Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Robert Delaunay, Henri Le Fauconnier, Fernand Léger and Juan
Gris.[3] A primary influence that led to Cubism was the representation of three-dimensional
form in the late works of Paul Cézanne.[4] A retrospective of Cézanne's paintings had been
held at the Salon d'Automne of 1904, current works were displayed at the 1905 and 1906
Salon d'Automne, followed by two commemorative retrospectives after his death in 1907.[5]
In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form—
instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a
multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context.[6]
The impact of Cubism was far-reaching and wide-ranging. Cubism spread rapidly across the
globe and in doing so evolved to greater or lesser extent. In essence, Cubism was the starting
point of an evolutionary process that produced diversity; it was the antecedent of diverse art
movements.[7]
In France, offshoots of Cubism developed, including Orphism, Abstract art and later
Purism.[8][9] In other countries Futurism, Suprematism, Dada, Constructivism and De Stijl
developed in response to Cubism. Early Futurist paintings hold in common with Cubism the
fusing of the past and the present, the representation of different views of the subject pictured
at the same time, also called multiple perspective, simultaneity or multiplicity,[10] while
Constructivism was influenced by Picasso's technique of constructing sculpture from separate
elements.[11] Other common threads between these disparate movements include the faceting
or simplification of geometric forms, and the association of mechanization and modern life.