Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973) is widely recognized as one of the founders of Cubism, along with Georges Braque (1882 – 1963). This artistic movement aimed to deconstruct the image through geometric figures, drawing inspiration from diverse sources, such as African masks and the works of French artist Paul Cézanne. Cubism, which emerged in 1907, represented a new way of visualizing reality, moving away from traditional illusionism and approaching a more geometric and fragmented vision of the world.
The first phase of Cubism, known as Analytical Cubism, developed between 1908 and 1912, characterized by the fragmentation of the object into multiple facets and the almost total absence of color, prioritizing tones of gray, brown and green. This phase is marked by a rigorous analysis of shapes and volumes, where artists deconstructed objects and represented them from different perspectives simultaneously.
George Braque
Large Nude
1907
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Naked
1989
Pencil on paper
21cm x 29cm
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Naked
1989
Pencil on paper
21cm x 29cm
Manuel Pereira da Silva is an artist who, although not directly associated with Cubism, shares the ability to balance figuration with abstraction, often addressing the female figure in his compositions. This treatment of the female figure, which can be both explicit and implicit, underlines his ability to balance figuration with abstraction. In his works, he frequently explores themes such as seated women, reclining women, motherhood, family, man and woman, dance and crucifixion. Although the figures in his works are often almost completely dissolved into abstraction, there is a constant presence of noticeable figurative references, indicating an unbreakable connection with the representation of the human.
Pablo Picasso
Maternity
1909
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Maternity
1955
Watercolor on cardboard
34cm x 43cm
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Maternity
1994
Ballpoint pen on cardboard
25cm x 50cm
The term "Cubism" was first used by French art critic **Louis Vauxcelles in 1908, after seeing a painting by Braque. Vauxcelles described the work as “full of little cubes,” an observation that quickly led to widespread use of the term, despite initial resistance from its creators.
Cubism evolved into Synthetic Cubism around 1912, which is characterized by the reintroduction of color and the simplification of forms. At this stage, the artists started to incorporate collage elements and different materials, replacing the volume and space of the previous painting with a vocabulary based on the fragmentation and simultaneity of forms and creating a new dimension of the anti-naturalistic and irrational space, breaking even further with the previous pictorial traditions and emphasizing the autonomy of art.
During his neoclassical period, Picasso explored the theme of motherhood and the special relationship between mother and child, creating works that evoked the solidity and vitality of ancient statues. These paintings are marked by a soft palette of grays and pinks and highlight the female figure as a symbol of strength and connection to the earth. The maternity picture shows a woman dressed in a classic white dress while holding a squirming baby on her lap. She is so absorbed with her son that she doesn't know we are watching them. Their interplay is both lively and tranquil, evoking tender lyricism and the calming spirit of motherhood. Picasso's neoclassical period lasted until about 1925, when his art took yet another direction.
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Maternity
1965
Plaster on aluminum structure
53 cm x105 cm x 56 cm
The Three Dancers was painted by Picasso in June 1925. The painting shows three dancers, the one on the right is barely visible. A macabre dance takes place, with the dancer on the left with her head tilted at an almost impossible angle. The dancer on the right is often interpreted as Ramon Pichot, Picasso's friend who died during the painting of the Three Dancers. The one on the left is Pichot's wife, Germaine Gargallo, and the one in the center is Germaine's boyfriend, Carlos Casagemas, also a friend of Picasso. Casagemas committed suicide after failing to shoot Germaine, twenty-five years before Pichot's death, and the loss of two of his best friends spurred Picasso to paint this chilling depiction of the love triangle.
Pablo Picasso
The three dancers
1925
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Dance
1980
Oil on canvas
69cm x 84cm
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Dance
1959
Plaster on aluminum structure
60 cm x 78 cm x 41 cm
Picasso painted The Three Dancers in Paris after a trip to Monte Carlo with his wife, ballerina Olga Khokhlova. At this time, Picasso was attracted to Andre Breton's surrealist movement. This radical work marks Picasso's entry into surrealism and his descent into his disturbing representations of the female form. However, he was never a fully enrolled member of the Surrealist movement: his realistic artistic response and his individuality never truly submitted to the movement's Freudian concepts of the supremacy of the subconscious state. However, the emerging Surrealists of the Dada movement claimed Picasso as their own, with the reproduction of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) in their 1925 manifesto to endorse his influence on their work. The Three Dancers is similar to Les Demoiselles a'Avignon in its revolutionary impact - but it is not the elements of primitivism but the psychotic frenzy of the women that is disturbing.
Pablo Picasso
Dance
1929
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Dance
1956
Watercolor on cardboard
50cm x 54cm
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Dance
1979
Ballpoint pen on cardboard
40cm x 58cm
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Dance
nineteen ninety
Watercolor on cardboard
27cm x 33cm
Picasso's relationship with Surrealism, although unofficial, is evident in works such as Crucifixion (1930), which continues to explore the distortion of bodily forms and manic grimaces, combined with the pyramidal structure of the figures, characteristics that echo anguish. and the chaos of his personal and artistic experiences.
Pablo Picasso
Crucifixion
1930
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Crucifixion
1955
Watercolor on cardboard
27cm x 38cm
Manuel Pereira da Silva
Crucifixion
1979
Ballpoint pen on cardboard 50 cm x 65 cm
Thus, Cubism, from its origins with Picasso and Braque to its subsequent evolutions and influences, represents one of the most significant transformations in modern art, challenging traditional perceptions and opening the way for new forms of artistic expression and interpretation.
