fbpx

KidsKonnect

Cubism Facts & Worksheets

Cubism is an artistic movement, created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, which employs geometric shapes in depictions of human and other forms.

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /The Arts /Cubism Facts & Worksheets

Premium
Cubism Worksheets
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

Cubism is an artistic movement, created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, which employs geometric shapes in depictions of human and other forms.

See the fact file below for more information on the Cubism or alternatively, you can download our 20-page Cubism worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

CUBISM: An Introduction

  • Cubism is an art movement that was created by the artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in Paris between 1907 and 1914.
  • The Cubist style was emphasized by showing different viewpoints at the same time and within the same space and so suggest their three-dimensional form.
  • In doing so, the artists emphasized the two-dimensional flatness of the canvas instead of creating the illusion of depth and depicted radically fragmented objects.
  • French critic Louis Vauxcelles first coined the term Cubism in 1908 to describe Braque’s landscape paintings. But Henri Matisse had previously described his paintings to Vauxcelles as figures comprised of cubes.
  • Inlater years, other artists eventually bent on cubism such as Polish artist Louis Marcoussis. His paintings are considered to have more of a human quality and lighter touch.
  • Spanish artist Juan Gris, French painter Fernand Léger (focused on architectural subjects), and Marcel Duchamp (figures in motion) were also among the first followers of the movement, as seen from their works.
  • A public exhibit called the “The Salon Cubists” showed Picasso and Braque’s influence. It was through the Salon Cubists that the movement became widely known to the public in the early 1910s.
  • These artists included Robert Delaunay, Albert Gleizes, Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Henri Le Fauconnier, Robert de La Fresnaye, and Jean Metzinger.
  • These artists exhibited together at the 1911 Salon des Independants, introducing Cubism to the general public.
  • At the end of 1911, Metzinger and Gleizes’ first published statement about the movement they titled “On Cubism” (1912).

TYPES OF CUBISM

  • Cubism have been developed in two distinct phases: the initial analytical cubism, and a later phase of cubism known as synthetic cubism.
  • Analytical cubism (1908–1912) – The artworks are made up of interweaving planes and lines in muted tones of blacks, grays, and ochres and in nearly monochromatic scale.
  • Analytical cubists Picasso and Braque produced right-angle and straight-line construction, and occasionally sculptural.
  • Synthetic cubism (1912-1914) – Characterised by simpler shapes and brighter colours, cubists often include in their works collaged real elements such as newspapers.
  • Use of color is heavily emphasized in these works; shapes, while remaining fragmented and flat, are larger and more decorative.
  • After the First World War, another phase of cubism was formed, the Crystal Cubism (1915-1922). A historian has described this stage as the “end product of a progressive closing down of possibilities.”

CUBIST INFLUENCE

  • Outside Europe and the west, Cubism first reached Japan and China via European texts translated and published in Japanese art journals in the 1910s.
  • Japanese and Chinese artists who studied in Paris later brought back with them an understanding of Cubism.
  • Notable Cubists were Tetsugorō Yorozu’s Self Portrait with Red Eyes (1912) and Fang Ganmin’s Melody in Autumn (1934).
  • Although Cubism never regained its popularity in the art world, its influence has continued in art movements like Futurism, Constructivism, Abstract Expressionism, and others.
  • Cubism also influenced other forms:
    • In literature, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, and Gertrude Stein – who employ repetition and repetitive phrases as building blocks in both passages and whole chapters;
    • In music, Igor Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” showed spontaneous and intuitive and impulsive reflection regarding the object through intuitive rhythm, chord and unique texture;
    • In photography, Aleksandr Rodchenko, László Moholy-Nagy, and Paul Strand used large format cameras to create high contrasts (over shading), flat images, semi-abstractions, and geometric repetitions;
    • In films by Hans Richter and Fritz Lang, as well as graphic design and scenic design;
    • In sculpture, Alexander Archipenko and Joseph Csaky were the first sculptors in Paris to join the Cubists. They were followed by Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Jacques Lipchitz, Henri Laurens, and Ossip Zadkine;
    • In architecture, Raymond Duchamp-Villon and André Mare used cubism as an influential factor in the development of modern architecture from 1912.

Cubism Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Cubism across 20 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Cubism worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Cubism which is an artistic movement, created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, which employs geometric shapes in depictions of human and other forms.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Cubism Facts
  • Pablo Picasso
  • Girl Before a Mirror
  • Interpreting Cubist Arts
  • Cubist Fashion
  • Cubist Photography
  • Analytic Cubism
  • Synthetic Cubism
  • Literary Cubism
  • Architectural Cubism
  • Art Movement Timeline

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Cubism Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, January 4, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources