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ART HISTORY 4450 Cubism: Synthetic & Inter-War Years
Synthetic Cubism (1912-21) •
aim: to reintroduce more legible imagery
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subjects: usually derived from environment of studio or café
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elements: – does not abandon all devices of Analytic Cubism – built compositions w/ broad, flat, and chromatically more varied planes
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media: introduction of papier collé & non-traditional sources – mimic their functions in external world – introduce new level of reality into picture – appear to be integrated into pictorial space rather than lying flat on surface – broad, flat, and chromatically more varied planes by addition of drawing
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meaning: relativity – not only does each object have a multiple nature, but its relations in space to other objects are changeable and contradictory
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Synthetic Cubism •
Still-life w/ Chair Caning (1912) – artist: Picasso – aim: to displace reality – technique: collage • “found objects” from outside world (e.g., rope, oilcloth) – format: oval – spatial order/perspective: • ambiguous/ paradoxical • multiple views (side & top) – color: muted – light/shadow: transparent, refractive – word play: “Jou” • jou[rnal] • Latin root game
Synthetic Cubism
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Guitar & Sheet Music (1912) – – –
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artist: Picasso aim: to displace reality medium: collage • cut paper • wall paper spatial order: ambiguous/ paradoxical • multiple views forms: constructed w/ varying media light/shadow: transparent, refractive color: muted; icy word play: ‘Le Jou’ • meaning: attack on conventional aesthetics • “The Battle has Begun”
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Picasso’s Synthetic Cubist Still-life w/ Fruit Dish (1914-15)
Synthetic Cubism
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Portrait of Josette (1916) – – – – – – – – – – –
artist: Juan Gris medium: oil spatial order: shifting & ambiguous perspective: changeable/contradictory decorativeness: minimized; broad areas of color suggest collage cutouts composition: unstable color: monochromatic & muted figure: volumes implied by broad dark areas of localized color light/shadow: suggested by broad dark areas of localized color facial features: abstracted word play: absent
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(Left) Picasso’s Analytical Cubist Woman with Mandolin (1910) vs. (right) Gris’ Synthetic Cubist Portrait of Josette (1916)
Picasso’s Synthetic Cubist Three Musicians (1921)
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Picasso: Inter-War Years
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The Lovers (1923) – – – – – – –
aesthetic: Classicizing tenendency forms: outlined by dark contour perspective: overlapping/forshortened facial features: idealized color: vibrant range of primaries & complimentaries brushwork: large, unmodulated areas light/shadow: evenly distributed
Picasso: Inter-War Years
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Woman in front of Mirror (1932) – – – – – – – –
aesthetic: variation Synthetic Cubism that responds to Surrealism forms: outlined by thick, dark contour patterns: emphasize 2-d surface of canvas perspective: simultaneity & reversals facial features: profile & frontal light/shadow: limited; silhouetted color: vibrant range of primaries & complimentaries brushwork: smooth, finished
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PICASSO’s Guernica (1937) •
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context: Spanish Civil War (1936-39) – started after coup d'état by a group of Spanish Army generals – ended w/ victory of rebel forces, overthrow of Republican government, and founding of dictatorship led by General Francisco Franco subject matter: bombing of SP town, Guernica, by twenty-eight German Nazi air force, on April 26, 1937 during Spanish Civil War theme: tragedies of war upon innocent civilians (see Goya’s Third of May, c. 1815) exhibition history: SP Republicans commissioned Picasso to create large mural for Spanish display at Paris International Exposition in the 1937 World's Fair scale: 11 x 25 ½ ft. color scheme: monochromatic setting: interior iconography: – Pietà – Gallic bull – horse – wounded soldier – Omens
PICASSO’s Synthetic Cubist Guernica (1937)
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Iconographic details from PICASSO’s Guernica (Left) Pietà scene and Gallic bull vs. (right) writhing horse and illuminated light bulb
Iconographic details from PICASSO’s Guernica (Left) Omens vs. (right) wounded man
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IMAGE INDEX • Slide 3:
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• Slide 5:
• Slide 6:
PICASSO, Pablo. Still Life with Chair Caning (1912), collage of oil, oilcloth, and pasted paper simuating chair caning on canvas, 10 1/2 x 13 3/4 in., Musee Picasso, Paris. PICASSO, Pablo. Guitar, Sheet Music, Glass (1912), papers and newsprint pasted, gouache and charcoal on paper, 48 x 36.5 cm., McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX. PICASSO, Pablo. Still Life with bowl and Fruit (Paris, winter 1912), Charcoal, black chalk, watercolor, oil paint, coarse charcoal or black pigment in binding medium, on newspaper (Le Journal, 6 and 9 December 1912), blue and white laid charcoal papers, supported by thin cardboard, 64 x 49.5 cm., Philadelphia Museum of Art. GRIS, Juan. Portrait of Josette Gris (1916), Oil on panel, 45 5/8 x 28 3/4 in., Museo del Prado, Madrid.
IMAGE INDEX • Slide 7: • Slide 8: • Slide 9: • Slide 10: • Slide 11: • Slide 12: • Slide 13: • Slide 14:
(Left) Picasso’s Analytical Cubist Woman with Mandolin (1910); (right) Gris’ Synthetic Cubist Portrait of Josette (1916) GRIS, Juan. The Open Window (1921) Oil on canvas, 25 5/8 x 39 3/8 in., M. Meyer Collection, Zurich. PICASSO, Pablo. Three Musicians (1921), Oil on canvas, 6 ft 7 in x 7 ft 3 3/4 in., The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. RIVERA, Diego. Portrait of Jacques Lipchitz (1914). LIPCHITZ, Jacques. Standing Person (1915-16), limestone, 98 x 28 x 18 cm., Tate Gallery, London. LIPCHITZ, Jacques. Man with Guitar (1917). LIPCHITZ, Jacques. Seated Man with Clarinet (1920), plaster, 77.5 x 29.3 x 28 cm., Tate Gallery, London. LIPCHITZ, Jacques. Seated Man with Guitar (1922).
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IMAGE INDEX •
Slide 10:
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Slide 12:
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Slide 13:
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Slide 14:
PICASSO, Pablo. Woman in front of a Mirror (1932), Oil on canvas, 162.3 x 130 cm, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. PICASSO, Pablo. Guernica (1937), Oil on canvas, 137.4 in × 305.5 in., Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid. Iconographic details from PICASSO’s Guernica (Left) Pietà scene and Gallic bull; and (right) writhing horse and illuminated light bulb Iconographic details from PICASSO’s Guernica (Left) Omens; and (right) wounded man.
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