Discover cubism paintings for sale online today. Our curated online gallery showcases art from some of the most exciting Cubist painters working today. Whether you’re searching for a Cubist portrait or a still-life piece, our collection is ever-evolving. Browse our vast array of styles, subjects, and mediums, and discover the Cubism painting for you.
Ta Byrne's style follows the Cubist technique through her representation of crowded and frenzied scenes with a subverted perspective. Byrne's signature use of primary colours radiates drama, whilst clearly depicting a performance of some sort. Byrne's storytelling in Princess of Jazz Playing the Trumpet is reminiscent of Picasso’s arrangement in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, and her profiles of figures in Conspirators Conspire reflect the faces of the early Analytical Cubist phase. Byrne's limited palette together with her geometric shapes and abstracted scenes create paintings that are as atmospheric as they are absorbing.
Taking inspiration from Synthetic Cubism, Simon M Smith works with tissue paper and intricate patterns to create soft abstract pieces. By combining pattern and collage, Smith creates a layered quality to his paintings and subverts the typical composition and perspective of traditional still life.
History of Cubism
Cubism is an avant-garde movement and style of modern art. Cubism subverts traditional perspective and challenges conventional painting as a means of introducing a new way of seeing. Fuelled by the idea of ‘relativity’, Cubism breaks down the formal elements of a subject, and presents a deconstructed perspective.
Pioneered by Pablo Picasso and George Braques at the beginning of the twentieth century, Cubism came about as a response to the vast changes that were happening in the Western World. From the invention of photography to the developments in quantum mechanics, Cubism reacted against tradition and paved the way for a new type of art. Often regarded as the first instance of abstract art, Cubism takes its name from a comment made by art critic Louis Vauxcelles, who remarked that Braque’s paintings broke everything down to ‘geometric outlines, to cubes’.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso is seen as a proto-Cubist piece that has since had a profound influence on modern art. Many see this painting as a seminal piece for Cubism, and the foundation upon which the movement originated. During the early stages of his career, Picasso would typically work and rework on all his paintings, and in x-rays carried out since, previous paintings can be identified beneath Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. In the x-rays, as well as in the painting itself, African masks can be seen to have had a huge influence on Picasso’s Cubist process, and the breaking down of subject matter. First exhibited towards the end of the Cubist movement in 1916, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was ridiculed and criticised by critics and artists alike. Constantly mocked and greatly misunderstood, the Cubist movement had to push its way through the adversity and judgement of the art world in the early twentieth century to become one of the most significant stages in the history of modern art.
As well as being inspired by social and scientific developments, Cubism was greatly influenced by Cézanne, and his abandoning of perspective. Joined by the likes of Juan Gris, Fernand Léger, and Robert Delaunay, the Cubists sought to expose the deception of traditional art and ‘the illusion of space’, and instead represented things as they really were, rather than as how they seemed to be. By breaking down objects, figures and landscapes, the Cubists revealed multiple viewpoints and drew attention to the two-dimensional quality of a painting.
Development of Cubism
Analytical Cubism was the first phase of Cubism and focused on presenting many different perspectives within a painting. Typically characterised by darker and subdued colours, Analytical Cubism fragmented images and consisted largely of geometric shapes. Following this came Synthetic Cubism in 1912. Seen by some as an attempt to revitalise what were becoming indistinguishable styles and paintings between Picasso and Braques, Synthetic Cubism turned to collage, lighter colours and added texture. Replacing the limited palette of Analytical Cubism with found objects, patterned paper and newspaper print, Synthetic cubism flattened the image, completely doing away with ‘the illusion of space’.
Cubism looked both forwards and backward. Breaking the way for a new direction of art, whilst revisiting ‘primitive’ art, Cubism undid the conventions of traditional art and opened the doors to all art that would follow.
Cubism led the way for many other pivotal art movements of the twentieth century. From Futurism to Dadaism and Surrealism, the revolutionary fundamentals of Cubism became massively influential to the course of modern art. Today, Cubism can be recognised in everything from art to design to architecture. Due to the theory behind the movement, and the style itself, Cubism is both influential and instantly recognisable.
