Learn About Famous Artists of Cubism and View Their Famous Paintings

Pablo Picasso, "Jacqueline"


Cubism, in art history, may have had the seeds of its beginning in Cezanne's paintings, the concept of volume and space, rejecting traditional relationships between line and form. Famous artists in this period including “isms” associated with it are Picasso, Braque, Gris, Leger, Delaunay and Marcel Duchamp. Pablo Picasso advanced this art concept and added his own new inventions. Forms found in nature were reduced to angular lines, wedges, and facets, having no relationship to each other than the geometrical linear quality they took on.

One of the first famous paintings labeled Cubism

Other "isms" or concepts developed within the realm of this period that lead to greater freedom of expression in art. Simultaneity is one of those concepts where the origin and inspiration for art came from nature. An object could be represented with two views, a frontal view fusing into a side view on the same plane. For example half of a frontal view of a face would be merged with a profile view of the same face, both seen from a frontal view.

This is a systematic distortion of space creating a new dimension, or a fourth dimension that has no depth or recession into space, very different from three-dimensional space. In this new spatial concept in art history, planes flowed into other planes and at times became transparent revealing other planes behind them. Both Picasso and Braque were part of this phase, in fact their art was so close at this time it is difficult sometimes to tell their paintings apart.

Synthetic Cubism followed simultaneity and freed artists to their own experimentation directed along cubist lines. The limits were the artist's own imagination and invention. There was no limitation, rules or theory. Line, form, and color were determined by the artist and not necessarily by nature.

Other famous artists in art history followed this trend in their art and exploited the freedom of expression and experimentation. Juan Gris thought there should be a high degree of recognition in his abstract art, while Fernand Leger thought art should reflect the industrial flavor of modern times. Robert Delaunay added motion and forceful movement to the static forms of art from this period, while he and Picabia, both added greater color to compositions. Lastly Marcel Duchamp painted a dynamic flow of energy inone of his famous paintings "Nude Descending a Staircase", 1912.


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To view select artists of this period, click on the names below.

Georges Braque

Pablo Picasso