Picasso and Braque Synthetic Cubism 1912 1920 s

Picasso and Braque Synthetic Cubism 1912 – 1920 s

To synthesize means to integrate two or more pre-existing elements which results in a new creation.

Purpose: To Depict a Vision of Modern Urban Life • by bringing together familiar scraps and unfamiliar forms in order to give shape to a particular sense of urban life on the eve of WWI • by exploring the individual experiences associated with public spaces and urban recreation • by using the language of publicity and commerce in an ambiguous manner to suggest a multiplicity of contradictory meanings, especially through puns • by capturing the new sense of simultaneity of diverse experiences-the fusion of objects, people, machines, noises, light, smells, etc.

Pablo Picasso before The Aficionado (summer-autumn 1912).

Pablo Picasso. Man with a Violin (spring 1912). Oil on canvas.

Place Saint-André-des-Arts, Paris (1903 -04). The photographer Eugène Atget captures the excitement and apparent randomness of the information environment of the modern city. Paris street, 1906.

Eugène Atget. Paris Street (1925).

Posted wall, Dijon, 1901

Morris columns, Paris (1910).

Newstand, Paris, before 1914

Pablo Picasso. Violin, Wineglasses, Pipe, and Anchor (May 1912). Oil on canvas.

Representation of Representation

Pablo Picasso. Still Life with Chair Caning (May 1912). Collage of oil, oilcloth, and pasted paper on canvas.

Collage Noun from the French verb coller: to glue

Characteristics • A new relationship is enacted between “low” culture (mass culture) and “high” culture (professional art). • This relationship is felt to be inappropriate, jarring, or wrong—yet interestingly so. • The end result is irreverence, paradox, and perplexity.

Pablo Picasso. Still Life with Chair Caning (May 1912). Collage of oil, oilcloth, and pasted paper on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. The Scallop Shell “Notre Avenir est dans l’air” (May 1912). Oil on canvas.

Cover of Nôtre Avenir est dans l’air, a brochure imploring France to improve its aviation. Braque and Picasso were using the slogan ironically, as to imply that France’s future was “in the air”.

Georges Braque. The Clarinet (spring-late summer 1912). Oil on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. The Poet (August 1911). Oil on canvas. Pablo Picasso. The Poet (summer 1912). Oil on canvas.

This fan sits in front of a Spanish guitar and clutches a banderilla. His refined tastes are presented through his stiff collar, top hat, and the newspaper Le Torero, as well as by the bottle of manzanilla sherry to his left. Pablo Picasso. The Aficionado (summer 1912). Oil on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Maquette for Guitar (October 1912). Construction of cardboard, string, and wire (restored).

Pablo Picasso. Guitar and Sheet Music (October. November 1912). Pasted paper, pastel, and charcoal.

Le Journal, November 18, 1912, p. 1 Pablo Picasso. Guitar, Sheet Music, and Glass (after November 18, 1912). Pasted paper, gouache, and charcoal.

This collage evokes a café, with its cheap wallpaper and humble guitar, where people would go to listen to music, read newspapers, and discuss the news of the day. Pablo Picasso. Guitar, Sheet Music, and Glass (after November 18, 1912). Pasted paper, gouache, and charcoal.

The subject evoked in the collage is the debating of political issues with friends in a public place. Pablo Picasso. Glass and Bottle of Suze (after November 18, 1912). Pasted paper, gouache, and charcoal.

Pablo Picasso. Guitars (spring 1913). Ink.

Pablo Picasso. Guitar (December 3, 1912). Paper construction.

Pablo Picasso. Guitar (winter 1912 -13). Construction of sheet metal, string, and wire.

Pablo Picasso. Bowl with Fruit, Violin, and Wineglass (after December 2, 1912; completed after January 21, 1913). Pasted paper, watercolor, chalk, oil, and charcoal on cardboard.

Pablo Picasso. Gas Jet and Guitar (winter 1912 -13). Gouache and charcoal.

Georges Braque. Pedestal Table (early 1913). Oil and charcoal on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. “Au Bon Marché” (January 25 -26, 1913). Oil and pasted paper on cardboard.

This is a parody of the female’s dual role as a consumer and as “goods for sale”. A pasted lid from the lingerie department of the store Au Bon Marché combines with decorative wallpaper, glass on the right, a decanter on the left, and an ad from the department store Samaritaine. Picasso cuts the ad to focus on a modern woman, with her modern hair cut and her gesture of vanity. A number of elements cut off from their context in the newspaper are combined to suggest her availability: the price “ 2. 85” and the words above “Method of Payment”, “Massage” and “Trou Ici”— meaning “hole here”.

Construction mounted in Picasso’s Studio at 5 bis, rue Scheolcher, early 1913, including cardboard maquette for Guitar. Photographed by the artist. Construction no longer extant.

Pablo Picasso. Man with a Guitar (spring 1913). Ripolin (shiny enamel house paint) on canvas.

Georges Braque. Violin and Glass (spring 1913). Oil, charcoal, and pencil on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Guitar (after March 31, 1913). Pasted paper, charcoal, ink, and chalk.

Pablo Picasso. Bar Table with Guitar (spring 1913). Chalk, and pasted and pinned paper.

Pablo Picasso. Head of a Man With a Moustache (after May 6, 1913). Charcoal and ink on newspaper.

Pablo Picasso. Head (May. June 1913). Pasted paper, charcoal, and pencil on cardboard.

Pablo Picasso. Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar, and Newspaper (spring 1913). Pasted paper and ink.

Georges Braque. Clarinet (summer 1913). Pasted paper, oil, charcoal, chalk, and pencil on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Mandolin and Clarinet (autumn 1913). Construction of painted wood with pencil marks.

Georges Braque. Woman with a Guitar (autumn 1913). Oil and charcoal on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Card Player (winter 1913 -14). Ripolin paint on canvas.

Georges Braque. Violin and Pipe “Le Quotidien” (after December 20, 1913). Chalk, charcoal, and pasted paper.

Georges Braque. Glass and Bottle (winter 1913 -14). Charcoal and pasted paper.

Georges Braque. Bottle of Eau-de-Vie (early 1914). Oil on canvas.

Georges Braque. Glass, Bottle, and Newspaper (after January 15, 1914). Pasted paper.

Pablo Picasso. Still Life (early 1914). Construction of painted wood with upholstery fringe.

Pablo Picasso. Glass and Dice (early 1914). Construction of painted wood.

Pablo Picasso. Glass, Newspaper, and Dice (spring 1914). Construction of painted wood and tin.

Pablo Picasso. Glass, Dice and Newspaper (spring 1914). Construction of painted wood and tin.

Pablo Picasso. Glass (spring 1914). Construction of painted tin.

Pablo Picasso. Bottle of Bass, Glass, and Newspaper (spring 1914). Construction of painted tin.

Pablo Picasso. Glass of Absinth (spring 1914). Painted bronze with sand perforated absinth spoon.

Pablo Picasso. Smoker (spring 1914). Oil and pasted paper on canvas.

Georges Braque. Man with a Guitar (spring 1914). Oil and sand on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Man with a Mask, Playing a Guitar (summer 1914). Pencil.

Pablo Picasso. Bearded Man Playing a Guitar (summer 1914). Pencil and gouache.

Pablo Picasso. Still Life with Cards, Glasses, and a Bottle of Rum “Vive la France” (summer 1914). Ripolin paint and sand on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Green Still Life (summer 1914). Ripolin paint on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Portrait of a Girl (summer 1914). Ripolin paint on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Man with a Pipe (1915). Ripolin paint on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Harlequin (fall-winter 1915). Ripolin paint on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Three Musicians (1921). Oil on canvas.

Pablo Picasso. Three Musicians (1921). Oil on canvas.