![]() On the other hand, the Salon Cubists, on the whole were far more willing to use bright colors than Picasso and Braque. Why reduce the palette? On one level, we see many artists at this period moving towards “Cézannian” ochres and greens, such as, Raoul Dufy, another former Fauve. Close examination of canvases reveals underpainting of a variety of colors, suggesting a decision to eliminate a variety of colors in favor of developing a complex variation of shades within a very narrow range of choice. From time to time, green will be used, but more and more sparingly. The characteristics of Analytic Cubism include a monochromatic reduced palette, restricted to Cézannian colors: ochres for the planes, black for the contours and white for the stippling on the surface. Accustomed to the language of the Renaissance, one has to learn how to “read” Cubism. Analytic Cubism can be unreadable, hence “hermetic,” because this language is so unfamiliar. In a period is called “heroic” and “hermetic,” by art historians, the new language was fully formed. The task Picasso and Braque assigned to themselves was nothing less than creating a new visual language in the visual arts. If human vision is mobile and if the viewer’s position in space changes over time, then the problem is how the artist can convey multiple perspectives on a flat two dimensional surface. By this time, the artists had discarded color in order to explore the logic of form in space. A few figures and a few portraits come out of the next phase but the painters seemed to find the still life best suited for their experiments. By 1910, the artists had moved indoors to work in a more controlled studio environment. These works were reminiscent of the paintings Paul Cézanne did with Camille Pissarro in the 1860s and allowed the young artists to use the geometric forms of the built environment to experiment with fragmenting forms. The paintings of 19 were transitional works, many of which were landscapes crowded with buildings that seem to climb up tall hills. It was these latter paintings, shown at Berthe Weil’s gallery in 1908, that prompted the quick-witted critic, Louis Vauxcelles, to remark on Braque’s “little cubes.” Like Impression and Fauvism, the beginning of “Cubism” was a derogatory one. Braque, however, had assimilated not just Cézanne’s advice to the younger painter, Emile Bernard, to reduce forms to basic geometric shapes but also his dark colors, subdued blues and greens. Picasso’s paintings still reflect the colors he favored in 1906, the ochres and siennas seen in Two Women and the Portrait of Gertrude Stein. Both Braque and Picasso produced very Cézannesque landscapes, Picasso at Horta del Ebro in Spain and Braque at Cézanne’s only painting grounds of L’Estaque. Having completed their experiments with other styles and influences, they settled into their final project: extending the logic of Cézanne. Picasso and Braque were in painterly sync by 1908. Nevertheless Braque abruptly dropped out of the waning Fauve movement and cast his lot with Picasso. The painting was shown to a few close friends, including his new friend, Georges Braque, who responded with a work of his own, the Grand Nu, which was heavily indebted to Matisse, indicating his Fauvist roots. In 1907 Picasso produced the culmination of his interest in tribal art, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, a key work during this period. Picasso assimilated the twin influences of African tribal art (sculpture) and the legacy of Cézanne. ![]() ![]() During this period, Braque broke with Fauvism and veered towards Paul Cézanne. This early formative period, from 1907 to 1910 includes Les Demoiselles d’Avignon and Braque’s reaction to the painting, Grand Nu. If nothing else, 1907 is a good year because it is by this year that Fauvism is definitively over and a brief period of movement towards the next avant-garde idea begins. But if one agrees with the position of art historians that Picasso and Barque were the instigators and innovators of Cubism, then the year 1907 is a good year to begin. Historically, “Cubism” as a word referring to an artistic movement did not appear in print until around 1910 and was used in reference of the Salon Cubists. The idea that “Cubism” began with a painting that was unfinished and private was an anachronistic concept. The painting was exhibited publicly only once in 1916 (during the Great War) until the 1920s and was purchased in 1929 for the new Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The problem with that assumption is that the artist never considered Les Demoiselles d’Avignon to be finished and kept the work rolled up under his bed until he sold it in the 1920s to the collector, fashion designer, Jacques Doucet. But that would be assuming that Picasso was the most important Cubist artist. One could ask the question, when did “Cubism” begin? Some art historians consider a single painting of 1907, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, as the beginning. ![]()
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