Artist Pablo Picasso spearheaded the Cubist movement in the early part of the 20th century.
Cubism is an avant-garde style of modern art attributed to both Pablo Picasso and Georges Bracque at around the same period in the early 1900s. Cubism is characterized by an almost grotesque abandonment of proportion and realism in respect to color and form. The intent was to reject and redefine the Classical concept of beauty. As the century progressed, Cubism evolved into different styles.
Cubism
The name Cubism is somewhat descriptive, as paintings done in this style appear made up of small cubes and sharp, geometric shapes. Picasso's first Cubist work was "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," completed in 1907. This painting depicts a human figure from several viewpoints, which became a core characteristic of Cubism. This Cubist painting is also representative of Picasso's epoque Negre period, which was inspired by African folk art.
Analytical Cubism
The first evolutionary phase in Cubism is referred to as Analytical Cubism, which lasted from approximately 1910 until 1912. In Analytical Cubism, the artist deconstructs his subject, taking the image apart and reassembling the pieces with geometric shapes. Analytical Cubism is characterized by mundane subject matter painted in a dull, monochromatic color palette, typically greys and browns. This places the focus on the artist's deconstruction of the form in an effort to depict the subject's essence, as opposed to a strict representation of its physical appearance.
Synthetic Cubism
Sometime around 1911 to 1912, Cubism evolved into what was subsequently termed Synthetic Cubism. The difference between earlier forms of Cubism and Synthetic Cubism is the use of smaller geometric shapes, thus making the object more easily identifiable. In a similar manner to Analytical Cubism, however, this new form also involved deconstruction of the subject matter and reassembly with intersecting and overlapping planes.
Orphic Cubism
Orphic Cubism --- also called Orphism --- was a short-lived offshoot art movement that began around 1912, introduced by a group of artists led by Robert Delaunay. Orphic Cubism was an attempt to push Cubism further into the abstract by abandoning any pretext of recognizable subject matter, instead focusing strictly on form and color to convey the artist's intent.
Purism
Purism was both a form of Cubism and a repudiation of its later forms. In a 1918 manifesto, French artists Am d e Ozenfant and Edouard Jeanneret (better known as Le Corbusier) decried the abstract direction Cubism had moved toward, arguing that abstract Cubism was more decorative than meaningful. The work of these artists was more methodical, better representing the true image of the subject matter and its essential form. Le Corbusier eventually brought this approach to architecture, a field in which he became one of the 20th century's leading figures.
