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Cubism Movement

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Beginning in 1907 the Cubism movement was set into motion by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque; this would eventually become the most internationally influenced movement of the 20th Century. The movement has roots dating back to European traditions of the Renaissance, which can be seen it its illusionism and deconstruction of linear perspective. The Cubism movement can be broken down into two primary styles of Analytical and Synthetic Cubism, each equally influential in their own way. First up was Analytical Cubism; this references the artist objective of analyzing and breaking down of the form and space within the picture plane.
Analytical Cubism was the period from 1907 to 1912; it was formed primarily at the hands of Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne and George Seurat. Analytical Cubism was a period of exploration in separating the perceived reality of what we can view and the intellectual reality of what we know. These characteristics include flattening the pictorial surface and simplifying the picture plane to only a basic geometric fragmentation of the subject. Additionally, minimal color was used in order to further flatten the subject. Flatness was a key characteristic of Analytical Cubism; lack of warm and cool hues prevented the subject from becoming dimensional and eliminated any single focal point.
With the goal of Analytical Cubism being to separate realities, artist used easily recognizable items or ordinary subjects. Things used were often just found around the artist studio; typical choices of subject matter include bowls of fruit, bottles or glasses. These were chosen so that the viewer could easily understand what they were seeing and how it had been manipulated and separated from perceived reality.

Next up was Synthetic Cubism, which lasted from 1912 to 1914, but was seen into the early 1930s. This period was focused on the goal of construction

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