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The emergence of Cubism in the early 0th century marked a turning point in the history of art. This new style, popularized by artists including Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, radically transformed traditional artistic concepts in a way that was pleasingly abstract and ambiguous. Two paintings, Braque’s Fox of 111 and Louis Marcoussis’ Still Life of 16, exemplify the characteristics of Cubism as it evolved as an artistic convention.
One of the most important attributes of Cubist painting is its paradoxical nature. At first glance, the works appear senseless and incomprehensible. For example, in Braque’s Fox the outline of a heart and rectangle form a playing card. Identifying this seemingly random arrangement of shape and form requires careful consideration. Composition within the space of the canvas is unnatural. At once, forms seem to dissolve into surrounding open areas on the canvas, while converging into the mass of the still life arrangement. Fox is also an excellent example of this, as curved lines and patterns of darkened marks project away from the central bulk and into the outer spaces of the print. Prints appear strikingly simple, though the underlying principles of organization and structure are extremely complex. These conflicts are all at work within Cubist paintings.
Unlike earlier genres such as Renaissance and Impressionism where forms appear detailed and recognizable, Cubism transforms natural realities into autonomous art. Space is created by layering and overlap, abandoning the conventional techniques of shading and foreshadowed perspective. Cubist artists integrate the canvas itself into their composition, utilizing rather than dissolving bare areas. Variations in hue form slight shadows, but largely represent thickness instead of the affects of natural light. The lemon in the Marcoussis print, for instance, is sectioned into light and dark areas, yet echoed by a shadow to the left within the print. This suggests lighting from conflicting areas outside of the arrangement. The essential lesson is that art can exist outside the realms of nature and realism.
The nature of Cubist still-life painting poses an interesting question about the relationship between time and space within these prints. In both works, the arrangements seem to be simultaneously moving and at rest. In Still Life, the fish and the lemon seem immobile. The newspaper and vase, however, seem to shift between our angle of sight taking positions that are uncertain and unfixed. The Braque print is slightly more puzzling, dispersing geometric shapes and curving lines throughout the canvas. Repetitions of a C-Shaped line seem to move randomly throughout the print. Overlapping creates the effect of multiple planes without solidifying the relationships between each layer. Art Analyst Robert Rosenblum explains that “The ambiguous quality of time in a Cubist painting derives from this very phenomenon, for one senses neither duration nor instantaneity, but rather a composite time of framentary moments without permanence or sequential continuity. (Rosenblum, 161)”
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Additional characteristics of cubism are the de-emphasis of color and a return to classic linearity. Two obvious similarities between these two works are the use of a monochrome color scheme and the use of line to form space and texture. Especially in Still Life, lines help to clarify textures and separate elements. The fish’s body is realistically depicted through a series of lines and spots and Marcoussis attributes the table top with a grain-like wooden appearance. Despite a distinct reliance on verticals and horizontals, the linearity of each print is soft and dim rather than harsh and intrusive. This is largely a result of the drypoint etching technique used for both prints. A metal plate is coated with a substance that the artist etches into using hard tools. The artist’s strength and expertise manually determine depth of line. The resulting sunken areas collect ink that is ultimately transferred to paper as it passes through a roller press.
Another characteristic that both prints share is the inclusion of numbers and letters. Objects are representative and symbolic rather than pictorial. Braque uses letters and numbers to clarify his print. The word “FOX” is a direct reference to Fox’s bar, a Parisian hangout for Cubists. Similarly, the word “GIN” denotes a bottle of alcohol and the number “75” signifies money sitting in a heart shaped saucer. This writing unifies the composition by providing a theme for the print. Marcoussis uses bold-faced script to identify the newspaper that rests on his table. Unlike Braque, his letters are unfinished and unreadable. Their lack of completion indicates another major Cubist convention. Aside from the obvious quality of fragmentation, the substitution of partial signs for words and numbers tells the viewer to forego literal interpretation. Fundamentally, art since the Renaissance understood pictures as illustrations of perceived reality. Acknowledging the symbolic nature of Cubist prints validates the new Cubist principle that an image’s relation to reality is conceptual.
In Cubism, we see a total transformation in ideas about art. Rosenblum compares the language of Cubist works to the language of poetry, stating that it “is multi-leveled, and conforms to the twentieth century’s refusal to accept a single, absolute interpretation of reality. (Rosenblum, 161)” Abstract and rotating forms, changes in depth and perspective, ambiguity of time and space, and alphabetic and numeric symbols all contribute to new ways of thinking about reality. Cubism not only changes the ways in which artists depict their ideas and surroundings, but the ways in which society sees what is real.
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