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Cubism was a rational attempt in revaluating volume and
special relations, and a starting point for the many of the
subsequent modern art movement. The continuance of the constructive
experiences of cubists gave birth to various geometric abstract
trends; and this kind of abstraction also paved the road for the
optic-kinetic art, various hard-edge painting and minimal
structures.
Cubism had its roots in one of Cézanne's theory according which the
natural forms are made of the geometrical elements. Aesthetic
principles of Cubism developed jointly by Picasso and Braque between
1907 and 1914; and Juan Gris, Fernand Léger, Robert Delaunay,
Frantisek Kupka, Jacques Villon and some other artists also
contributed to its development and deepening.
The term "cubism" apparently was coined by the French
critic Louise Vauxcelles. According to Henry Matisse, he used it to
ridicule the "little cubes" of Braque; but later, the term
was accepted by the artists themselves.
Cubism developed in three more or less distinctive phases. In the
first phase (Proto-Cubism), Braque began to explore the structural
qualities of Cézanne's late works; and Picasso also by studying the
formal principles of the African and Iberian sculptures took a
parallel way. The most important outcomes of these experiments were
depicting the different aspects of objects, simplifying the form and
decreasing the depth of pictorial space.
In the second phase (Analytical Cubism), Picasso and Braque used the
same method in construction of their paintings. They analyzed the
form of objects or figures to geometric "facets" and
reconstructed it anew. The facets were small shaded areas
encompassed by straight or curved lines. The method of shading made
facets seem concave or convex; but their edge and contours
eliminated this illusion. In this way, the depth of pictorial space
decreased more and more; objects also became indistinguishable,
without loosing their tangible and actual quality. This trend
arrived at its conclusion with collages, which meant more emphasis
on the materiality of the things. The paintings of this period were
mostly monochrome.
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