Cubism

Cubism paintings famously represented by Picasso paintings are still highly and expensively appreciated even today after roughly one century has passed when this artistic movement emerged. This is mostly because of the originality to change the western oil paintings. To put 3D world into 2D world (paintings) was not new as the the techniques of perspective was invented several centuries before, and which was fairly scientific. Then what was new with Cubism? There are many answers to this question. One of the answers will be freedom, free from the conventional perspective

Painting is very restricted due to its 2D nature. Very 2D like paintings with no perspective technique like most oriental painting and ancient or middle age western paintings were not so dimension conscious as what was very important is (oriental paintings) and was (middle age western paintings) the spirit which a painting convey(ed). After the introduction of perspective the visual effects have become important, which may have related with less religious spiritual movement later on. Cubism can be considered to have brought one of new technique to make new visual effects, different from those which the conventional perspective can do. A cube is a 3D object but Cubism was not simply a new type of 3D making technique by paiting many cube-like objects on a canvas.

2D is very restrictive no matter how you use techniques of making 3D like image such perspective or depicting many cubes on a canvas.  3D itself , on the other hand, has a lot of freedom, not restricted within the so call 3D (length, width and height) but all possible 3 dimensions outside 2D world, which may be freely distorted angle wise or cannot be seen by eyes (can be expressed in this case?). Quite a freedom. Who first noticed or discovered this freedom, again not in terms of the ordinary dimensions, but completely free from 2D ? Not painters but highly likely mathematician(s) who liked real freedom. Because of this freedom Cubism painters freely went far from the 2D restrictions (although still physically restricted in 2D due to the painting 2D nature) and even from the conventional perspective derived 3D like images.


AAG