cubism

Everyday

(art) A style of painting and sculpture begun around 1907–1908 by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, in which people and objects are shown as flat geometric shapes like cubes and angles, often seen from several sides at once. tree →

In the lessons

In art lessons pupils learn about Cubism and make pictures by cutting faces or still lifes into shapes and showing them from different angles. It is linked to maths shapes. A «Cubist» is an artist who works in this style.

Examples

• Picasso is famous for Cubism. tree →
• In art class we made a Cubist portrait out of triangles and squares. tree →
• Cubism shows a face from the front and the side at the same time. tree →
• The guitar in the painting is broken into shapes, which is typical of Cubism. tree →
• Our teacher showed us how Cubism changed modern art. tree →

Note

Uncountable; often written with a capital C. Adjective «Cubist». The name came from a critic saying the paintings looked like little cubes. Not connected with «cubic» units in maths except by the shape idea.