The document discusses Cubism and Abstraction in early 20th century art, describing how Cubism revolutionized the treatment of form and space by abandoning traditional perspective techniques and focusing on geometric shapes and multiple viewpoints. It explains that Cubism was influenced by theories of relativity, psychoanalysis, and non-Western art, seeking to depict new conceptualizations of objects rather than realistic illusions. The movement transformed painting and sculpture through techniques like collage, facets, and abstraction of form.

1. Cubism and Abstraction

2. 91482 (3.1): Demonstrate understanding of style in art works
Select any TWO of these art works to use in your response to ONE of the following
questions.
EITHER:
QUESTION THREE
Discuss the treatment of form and space in BOTH of your selected art works.
Explain the reasons for the similarities and differences between the two art works,
with reference to the changing influences of early twentieth century art.

3. OR:
QUESTION FOUR
Discuss characteristics of early modernism in BOTH of your selected art works.
Explain the reasons for the similarities and differences between the two art works,
with reference to ideas about modern life in this period.
91482 (3.1): Demonstrate understanding of style in art works

4. Picasso Factory at Horta de Ebro 1909

5. Matisse The Dance 1910

6. Kirchner, Self Portrait with
Model 1910

7. The Melancholy and Mystery of the
Street, Giorgio de Chirico 1914

8. 91483 (3.2): Examine how meanings are
communicated through art works
The ideas, messages, and/or themes conveyed through the features of
art works. Features may include but are not limited to these things
Feature meaning
technical devices The tricks (techniques) of using the materials to achieve the
“look” of the work
formal elements All the things to do with “shapes” in the work. “Form” in 2
dimensional work may have the illusion of depth. “Form” in 3
dimensional work is the appearance in real space. Shape often
relates more to 2 dimensional work and form to 3 dimensional
work
subject matter What the work is about
iconographic motifs The pictorial symbols (icons) in a the work
symbols / emblems The (non-pictorial) symbols in a work e.g numbers, shapes,
brand names
action / performance elements What takes place in the work (performance)

9. 91484 (3.3): (3.3): Examine the relationship(s) between art
and context (Exemplar questions 2011 from NZQA site)
Choose ONE question, and answer BOTH parts of your chosen question.
EITHER:
QUESTION THREE: CULTURAL CONTEXTS
Use Resource Three and Resource Four on page 7 to help you address the
context for this question.
Discuss the influences of art from non-European cultures on European artists in
the early twentieth century.
Explain how these influences had an impact on art in this period, with reference
to at least TWO named art works from the early twentieth century.
OR… Means the Achieved part
Means the Merit or Excellence part

10. 91484 (3.3): Examine the relationship(s) between art
and context
QUESTION FOUR: SCIENCE CONTEXTS
Discuss the relationships between scientific discoveries and changes in art in the
early twentieth century.
Explain the importance of these relationships in the emergence of new styles of
art, with reference to at least TWO named art works from this period.

11. Discuss scientific or technological or social
or political or philosophical or spiritual
circumstances
At least Two artworks (you choose)
Explain the relationship
(a)
(b)
To what extent? (“how they had an impact…”, “how important…”)
Breaking down 3.3 “Context”

12. 3.3 Scientific discoveries of the early 20th Century
Person/ category Discovery Evidence
Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysis Simultaneous viewpoints- Cubism/Futurism
Subconscious- Surrealism
Albert Einstein Theory of
Relativity
Multiple simultaneous viewpoints- Cubism
Multiple timeframes- Cubism
Engineering • Eiffel Tower
• Mechanisation
• Mass produced
materials
Iconography- Cubism/Futurism
Imagery Dada
Collage- Cubism
Found objects- Post Cubism (Duchamp)
Social science Other (“primitive”)
cultures
Imagery- Cubism/Expressionism
Styles- Cubism/Expressionism
Science Photography
(Louis Daguerre)
Imagery-Cubism/Abstraction and Pure
Abstraction
Science Film (Lumiere
brothers)
Multiple and simultaneous veiwpoints-
Cubism
Movement Dynamism- Duchamp, Futurism

13. The Noble Savage
In English, the phrase Noble Savage first appeared in poet
Dryden's heroic play, The Conquest of Granada (1672):
I am as free as nature first made man,
Ere the base laws of servitude began,
When wild in woods the noble savage ran.
This also aligns with the Philosophy of Rousseau, who thought that
man in his pure form was seen in the “new world”.
3.3 “Context”

14. Cubism and Abstraction
Cubism was a 20th Century avant-garde art movement, created by Pablo
Picasso from Spain and Georges Braque from France that revolutionalized
paintings and sculpture in Europe. It was a movement which provided a new
look for pictorial form (aesthetic) and space which is entirely different from
‘high art’ such as had dominated France during the 19th Century which relied
on the classical (and Renaissance) idea of perspective in art, making it possible
to create an illusion of depth on a two dimensional plane.
Cubism was the outcome from the early 20th Century time of extremes. From
World War One to the Great Depression people turned away from the old
order and found interest in all that was new and dynamic. This was partly
forced on them by the advances in technology and science, which seemed to
leave little space for man. It was an expression which painters showed that
they weren’t satisfied as their roles as painters in an illusionistic world. This
changed the patronage from the church (the Renaissance period) to the
Nouveau Rich. This change of patronage was the rise of the middle class.
Cubism is about the reorganisation of the pictorial form and space. This is from
the time and space relativity theory by Albert Einstein that, space and time were
no longer absolute which caused artists to question the reality of pictorial space.
Painters from the early 20th Century wanted paintings to be painting again than
just illusions of nature. They wanted to keep the integrity, the true meaning of
the flat picture plane instead of the illusionary space used in the Renaissance
period.

15. The heads of these two figures
have been derived from African
tribal masks. The aquiline nose
from the sculpture ‘fang’
Primitivism is shown through the
African masks used. The
simplicity of design and rawness
or vigour of the images was
something which many artists
believed Western art lacked.
“Every thing in nature is
modelled after the sphere, the
cone, and the cylinder. One must
learn to paint from these simple
figures.” –Paul Cezanne
Flat facets have been used to
preserve the integrity of the
canvas’ picture plane. That is there
is no illusion of depth- a two
dimensional surface is just that
The hatching imitates the
common feature of carved
African masks.
3.1 “Style” and 3.3 “Context”

16. 90495 (3.3) Examine the context of an art movement

17. Primitive Sculptural
heads
Iberian- Pre Classical
Spanish
African- Pre European Tribal
Masks
Why?
post Napoleonic interest in
ethnography “La Musee
Etnografique”
Louvre collections
Eastern, exotic cultures (mid
19th Century Romantic
exoticism
Colonialisation in the African
Continent- interest in the
peoples and cultures of this
area
Dryden “the conquest of
Granada”, Rousseau’s
philosophy

18. Drawing Conclusions
•Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso is significant in the
development of Cubism, because it was the initial painting where
Picasso conceptualized his thinking up to that Point. When Braque saw
it he went back to his studio and synthesized his thinking in the
reaction to this called “Gran Nu” (1908).
• Picasso had used mostly all influences of cubism such as primitivism
where he borrowed the African tribal masks and the hatching.
•He has started to use the multiple viewpoints in the painting, which
was starting to break away from the laws of perspective which was a
tradition used since the Renaissance period.
•While moving the viewpoints Picasso also divided the painting into
many fragments or facets. These fragments later became an important
characteristic of cubism.

19. Gran Nu Georges Braque
1908

20. This Year Venuses Again… Always Venuses!. Honoré
Daumier, No. 2 from series in Le Charivati, 1864.
Birth of Venus Cabanel 1863
Cezanne Large Bathers 1906
Cezanne Sketch
for Large
Bathers

21. Picasso la Vie 1902
Gran Nu 1908
Leger Three Women 1921
Modigiani La Belle
Romaine 1917
Matisse The Dance 1910

22. Cubism in stages

Cezanne
2. Analytical Cubism 1910-1912 (Hermetic Cubism)


1. Facet (early) Cubism 1907-1908
3. Synthetic (later) Cubism
1908-1909- Transitional works

23. Candlestick and Playing Cards on a Table,
1910- Analytical Cubism (3.1 “Style”)
Facets build up the painted
surface
Passages link each facet emphasized
by tone- gives a sense of continuity.
Multiple viewpoints
give the total image of
the candlestick and
playing cards. Objects
are conceptualized
Short, directional brushstrokes
create a shimmering, translucent
effect. Mimicking coloured glass.
Linear structure, like a
scaffold of lines. Mostly
horizontal and vertical,
echoing the picture frame.
Flat planes, parallel to
surface of the painting-
re-arranged picture
plane.

24. Woman with a guitar
Georges Braque 1913
“Everything in nature takes its form from the sphere, the cone, and
the cylinder. One must learn to paint from these simple figures.” -
Paul Cezanne
This Paul Cezanne quote summarises the basic idea of Cubism. It
highlights the fact that the subject matter of the painting is less
important than basic geometric shapes. It broke away from the
normal standard illusionism and academic (traditional) art methods.
The objects they portrayed came from and were to be understood in
the context of the real world and showed the picture plane’s flatness
which brought the Western art towards abstraction.
The Cubists broke up the image that they were painting into squared
facets. It combined features such as hatching and cross hatching (as
shown in Woman with a Guitar) which linked the facets created a
unified picture plane.
“Cubism is the art of depicting new wholes with formal elements
borrowed not only from the reality of vision, but from that of
conception.” –Guillaume Apollinaire
3.1 “Style” The aesthetic philosophy behind Cubism

25. Cubism: Influence
There are several sources of cubist inspiration and influence. A key
source would be the later work of Paul Cezanne, a French painter who
was from the post-impression period. Cezanne’s painting had
geometric forms and compressed picture space, and had an emphasis
of light and colour, and his works represented three dimensions as seen
from several viewpoints.
Another influence is the African, Micronesian, and Native American art which intrigued Picasso,
Gauguin, and Martisse because of the strong, powerful style and simplicity from those foreign
countries. This was the influence of primitivism where symbols, imagery, motifs and techniques
were used because they are conceptual rather than perceptual – They relate an idea rather
than trying to reproduce an image.
‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’, a painting by Picasso was the concept painting of cubism. Picasso
adopted the African and Iberian sculptural and cultural styles within the painting.
Primitive
•Simplistic
•Expressive
•Decorative
•aquiline
Einstein’s and Freud’s theories gave cubist painters new ways to think how
to paint instead of the traditional illusionistic method. Einstein’s relativity
theory prompted artists to question the reality of pictorial space, while
Freud’s psychoanalyst view added to a general dissatisfaction with
traditional notions of reality.
Freud= Psycho-Analysis
Einstein=Theory of Relativity
Time and space are relative to
one’s position
3.3 “Context”

26. The Eiffel Tower Series: by Robert Delaunay
Le Tore Eiffel avec Arboles 1911
Le Tore Eiffel 1911
Les Fenètres Simultanees 1912
3.3 “Context”: Technology/Science

27. 3.3 “Context: Technology/Science
” Robert Delaunay. Homage to Bleriot. 1914

28. The Bride Stripped Bare by her
Bachelors, Large Glass 1915-1923
reconstructed 1965

29. Full version with “instructions”

30. Think about this
What is Duchamp
saying about the state
of Love between men
and women in the early
Twentieth Century?
Consider this image by
Jan Van Eyk

31. Marcel Duchamp
Explain the relationship between these
circumstances and your selected art works. To what
extent do these social and / or political
circumstances account for the spiritual and / or
philosophical qualities of your chosen artist’s work?

32. Marcel Duchamp.
Nude Descending a Staircase

33. Created a sensation when exhibited in New York in February 1913 at
the historic Armory Show of Contemporary Art
Perplexed Americans thought it represented all the tricks they felt
European artists were playing at their expense.
The picture's outrageousness lay in its mechanical portrayal of a
subject at once so sensual and time-honored.
The Nude aggregated avant-garde concerns: the birth of cinema; the
Cubists' fracturing of form;
• The Futurists' depiction of movement;
• The Chromophotography of Etienne-Jules Marey, Eadward
Muybridge, and Thomas Eakins;
• Redefinitions of time and space by scientists and philosophers.
The painting was bought directly from the Armory Show for three
hundred dollars by a San Francisco dealer. Marcel Duchamp's great
collector-friend Walter Arensberg was able to buy the work in 1927,
eleven years after Duchamp had obligingly made him a hand-colored,
actual-size photographic copy.
Today both the copy and the original, together with a preparatory
study, are owned by the Museum.

34. 1912 in Art and Theatre
Moscow production of Hamlet-
Edward Gordon Craig- January
Blue Rider Almanac
published- May
Kandinsky’s theatre
“Yellow Sound”
published
Metzger and Gleizes- published Du Cubisme

35. David Bomberg Vision of Ezekiel
Bonnard St Tropez Pier Robert Delaunay
Simultaneous Windows on
the City
Franz Marc Tiger Henri Matisse The Conversation
Egon Schiele Self Portrait
with Chinese Lantern fruit
Europe 1912

36. American Art 1912 The Contemporary Art of the day
was from the Ashcan School
George Bellows the Circus
John Sloan Sunday Women Drying their Hair
George Bellows New York
Then there was this…Arthur Davies
Elysian Fields

37. Cubist Colláge 3.1 Style
From Clement Greenburg’s work on Cubism
“COLLAGE WAS A major turning point in the evolution of Cubism,
and therefore … in the whole evolution of modernist art …Who
invented collage--Braque or Picasso--and when is still not settled.
Both artists left most of the work they did between I907 and 1914
undated as well as unsigned; and each claims, or implies the
claim, that his was the first collage of all”
-- Art and Culture, substantially revised from an article in Art News, September, 1958
Collage means sticking stuff on to a surface

38. Cubist Collage: using mass produced materials
Picasso Still Life with Chair Caning 1912
Mass Produced
(plastic) chair caning
Rope Frame
Overpainting
the collage
Text (“Journal” =
Fr. Newspaper)
Mass Produced
chair caning
Use of partial
elipses- multiple
viewpoints
Use of heavy
outline

39. Cubist Collage
Pablo Picasso, Still Life with Piano, 1911
Georges
Braque, Man
with a Guitar,
1911
Pablo Picasso, Man
in Hat, Charcoal
and collage, 1912
Juan Gris, Le Journal, 1916

40. Cubist Sculpture
Picasso Guitar 1912
Head of a Woman 1909