Rvt1 Art Paper

Art, like other disciplines in the humanities, may spring from the minds of specific individuals, but is often shaped by social and cultural influences. It may also be a continuation of, or a reaction to, the methods and characteristics of earlier periods of artistic style. In order to fully appreciate art is important to understand these influences and reactions and their context,

Cubism is “a nonobjective school of painting and sculpture developed in Paris in the early 20th century, characterized by the reduction and fragmentation of natural forms into abstract, often geometric structures usually rendered as a set of discrete planes” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cubism).

Cubism first appeared at in the early 1900’s.   Two artists credited with founding and developing this style were Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.   They developed their ideas on Cubism in Paris in a world that was changing rapidly and in ways that had never been seen before. The artists were attempting to revitalize and reawaken western art which they believed had been strangled by traditions that had run their course. Cubism challenged traditional forms of representation, such as perspective, which had been the rule since the Renaissance; the aim was to cultivate a new way of seeing. They felt their visions would better represent the modern age and the rapid changes occurring in society.

Cubism uses abstract shapes to represent three dimensional objects on a two dimensional surface, symbolizing an article in numerous planes presenting more than one view at a time. The artist uses small cubes or squares to represent an item from different perspectives, looking at the subject from many different angles, the artists pieced together views and fragments from different vantage points into one painting. The simplification, alteration and prominence of the form of objects was the focal point.   It wasn’t traditional art; their paintings aren’t meant to be realistic or life-like in any...