The main influences on the works of the Cubists were the paintings of Paul Cézanne and sculptures created by non-European artists.
“Georges Braque, Glass on a Table 1909–10, Tate, © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2021 [Painting] At: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/c/cubism/all-about-cubism (Accessed 23.03.2021)
«The cubists however, felt that this type of illusion is trickery and does not give a real experience of the object.
Their aim was to show things as they really are, not just to show what they look like. They felt that they could give the viewer a more accurate understanding of an object, landscape or person by showing it from different angles or viewpoints, so they used flat geometric shapes to represent the different sides and angles of the objects. By doing this, they could suggest three-dimensional qualities and structure without using techniques such as perspective and shading.» (TATE, online 2021)
This approach to depicting objects is very similar to that of Chinese landscape artists.
In 2017, I studied Chinese drawing and calligraphy in Shanghai. Master explained to me that there is no perspective in Chinese drawing. As well as there is no God. For our Western world, we believe in God and believe that he will help in difficult times. In the Chinese mind, there is no such great and omnipotent something that can help them, there is no prospect of help. Therefore, they create the perfect world of nature in drawings. This world unites everything together, if there is a mountain, then it seems to be on par with all the other things in the picture. Only a man is usually small and insignificant. Thus, the Chinese artist thinks about his situation as a whole, if he needs to enlarge the tree, he will do it, the perspective will only spoil the story and bring in logic.
In this way, both Cubists and Chinese artists seek to convey by artistic means something more than simply copying a photographic image of reality.
Matisse in the twentieth century continued to question the use of conventional ways of representing the perspective.
View of “Henri Matisse,” 2019–, Museum of Modern Art, New York. From left: Henri Matisse, The Red Studio, 1911; Alma Thomas, Fiery Sunset, 1973. Photo: Jonathan Muzikar. Henri Matisse, The Red Studio, Issy-les-Moulineaux, fall 1911 Oil on canvas, 181 x 219.1 cm [Painting] At: https://www.artforum.com/print/202001/kerry-james-marshall-on-pablo-picasso-faith-ringgold-henri-matisse-and-alma-thomas-81624 (Accessed 23.03.2021)
He covers the entire space with a solid colour, thereby depriving the room of a perspective. At the same time, we see perspective in other elements - the edging of the table, picture, chairs. In this work, the chaos of perspective. The chair is turned at two vanishing points. The painting does not correspond to the window on the wall, and so on.
Such distortion in one work was something new and not yet known at that time.
This image made it possible to present a new approach to the perception of the world. The viewer could no longer admire the usual views, he was carried away by distortions into the reading of each element separately. Perhaps there is an interpretation of individual objects. The clock and both framed and unframed pictures indicate the passage of time, the chair invites us to sit down and watch, and so on.
In general, such a distortion takes the viewer out of the ordinary physical world and shows a new perspective on things.
Bibliography and references
1. TATE, All about cubism At: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/c/cubism/all-about-cubism (Accessed 23.03.2021)
2. By Marion Boddy-Evans, Updated October 29, 2018 Famous Paintings: "The Red Studio" by Henri Matisse. thoughtco.com [Painting] At: https://www.thoughtco.com/matisse-red-studio-2578282 (Accessed 23.03.2021)
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