Cubism and Matisse & Picasso

     Two videos from “Films on Demand,” The Impact of Cubism and Matisse and Picasso, gave me a better understanding of these topics, which is why I chose to watch them.

     The first video analyzes the following works of art from this movement: The Breakfast Table by Juan Gris, Sad Young Man on a Train by Marcel Duchamp, Champ de Mars by Robert Delaunay, Electric Prisms by Sonia Delaunay, An Englishman in Moscow by Kazimir Malevich, and Farewells by Umberto Boccioni.  Juan Gris worked for a time with Picasso, and he incorporated some collage elements into his paintings.  Cubist works often use dull colors (grays, browns, blacks).  Cubism was employed around the time of the World Wars, so the theme of turmoil can sometimes be picked up in these works.  Movement, especially movement over time or in specific spaces, is very important in the relatively few works created by Marcel Duchamp.  Robert Delauney’s work mentioned above allows viewers to experience the Eiffel Tower from a variety of viewpoints simultaneously.  It is described in the video as “dizzying.”  Space is used uniquely in cubist works in that foreground and background can blend into one another.  Sonia Delaunay uses more bright, bold colors in Electric Prisms.  She was considered avant garde.  This particular work seems to be more abstract than cubist since its subject, circular forms of a variety of colors, does not seem to represent anything in life as Cubism does.  Cubism reduces objects to their most basic forms.  The video explains that An Englishman in Moscow uses Cubist style without its content being Cubist.  The reasoning behind the subject matter is very difficult to understand.  Farewells is a good example of the Cubist practice of dissembling and reassembling an image.

     The video Matisse and Picasso describes the lives of both men and their work.  It also explains the relationship that they had.  They were not too far apart in age and created their art around the time of World War II.  They lived in Europe and were both prominent artists.  They shared some interests and subject matter for their works, such as nude women.  In other regards, they were opposites.  Matisse considered himself to be somewhat religious, while Picasso was an atheist.  Matisse kept his works free of the disturbing or troubling, while Picasso included some of these elements.  Matisse used many sitters, whereas Picasso usually did not.  Picasso was a Cubist, while Matisse was a fauvist.  The video states that Picasso created the first collage in 1912 when he used a scrap of cloth as part of an image of a chair.  Sometimes one created a work in response to a work done by the other.   The works of both tend to reduce subject matter to simpler forms.  They spent time visiting one another, especially towards the end of Matisse’s life. 

     Our text, Living with Art, 10^th Ed. by Mark Getlein, introduces Cubism and fauvism.  These videos give a more complete picture of these styles.