Braque, Picasso and cubism

A decisive movement that profoundly marked the beginnings of avant-gardism, cubism nevertheless corresponded to a very short period, from 1909 to the start of the First World War, and to the meeting of two unique personalities: Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. Coming from very different backgrounds, the two artists nevertheless embarked on what Braque called a “roped-off” approach, which led first to a gigantic deconstruction of painting and its subject – analytic cubism – and then to its reconstruction in a space where spirit takes precedence over matter – synthetic cubism.

Starting with Braque’s Fauvist and Southern experiments, and Picasso’s blue and then pink periods, we’ll see how this breakthrough movement developed at an irresistible pace, and went on to influence many of the artistic advances that marked the modernity of the 20th century.

By Pierre-Nicolas Bounakoff, art historian and critic, exhibition curator