“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”―Pablo Picasso
WHO FOUNDED CUBISM?
The famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso created artwork that stands in a league of its own. He grew up painting realistic portraits of people because it was the style of the time. Eventually, he grew dissatisfied with realism and began experimenting with new techniques.
In his 20s, Picasso was introduced to different cultures’ artwork. While European traditionalists dubbed different cultures’ art as primitive and unworthy of creative critique, Picasso rejected this way of thinking. He grew so enamored with African art, especially storytelling masks, that he took on their unique painting style. This style didn’t represent reality as it was. His art transformed reality into sharp, shocking, alien objects. He deformed and fragmented the human figure. His choice of color and brushstrokes created a new visual vocabulary within a few years. This style, later known as Cubism, inspired a radical change in modern art tha…