cubism

American  

[kyoo-biz-uhm] / ˈkyu bɪz əm /

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

1. a style of painting and sculpture developed in the early 20th century, characterized chiefly by an emphasis on formal structure, the reduction of natural forms to their geometrical equivalents, and the organization of the planes of a represented object independently of representational requirements.

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cubism British  

/ ˈkjuːbɪzəm /

noun

1. (often capital) a French school of painting, collage, relief, and sculpture initiated in 1907 by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, which amalgamated viewpoints of natural forms into a multifaceted surface of geometrical planes

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cubism Cultural  

1. A movement in modern art that emphasized the geometrical depiction of natural forms (see geometry). Pablo Picasso was one of the leading cubists.

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Other Word Forms

• cubist noun
• cubistic adjective
• cubistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of cubism

< French cubisme (1908); see cube ¹, -ism

Explanation

Cubism is a style of art that takes landscapes, objects, and people, and transforms them into geometric shapes. Pablo Picasso was one of the most well-known masters of cubism. Cubism began in the early 20th century, when artists started experimenting with abstract works, attempting to show many angles and planes simultaneously. They rejected realistic perspective and tone, not even trying to make their paintings look three-dimensional. Cubism was all about breaking up images and reassembling them into small, flat shapes instead. The term cubism was coined after a French art critic derided what he called "bizarreries cubiques," or "cubic oddities."

Example Sentences

Sherman sees the disjunctions in her new work’s faces almost as an exercise in cubism.

From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2024

He went on to work with graphic designers influenced by radical and avant-garde art movements, such as futurism, cubism, and surrealism, conveying the modernity of the Underground.

From BBC • Oct. 21, 2023

All the participants draw from cubism and abstract expressionism, but jumble such precedents in lively ways.

From Washington Post • Aug. 26, 2022

Throughout the roaring decade, she became known for her impeccable techniques and her mixing of influences: cubism and neoclassicism, stillness and speed, past and future.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2022

In his grimy Montmartre apartment, Picasso is doing something similar on canvas: he’s twisted space and time into something he calls cubism.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day