The Legacy of Cubism

Cubism evolved in the calm before the storm of the First World War. It was primarily an intellectual pursuit that aimed to explore and expand the possibilities of representation. Its radical fragmentation of the human body and aggressively angular forms could also be seen to reflect a troubled and changing world.

The War created a dramatic break with the values and traditions of the past, and it was followed by a time of rapid social and political change that saw the emancipation of women, more immediate forms of communication, and new means of transport. Some artists, such as the Futurists, celebrated these changes and their works express the dynamism and energy of modern life. They focused on the new symbols of modernity - cars, trains and aeroplanes - and depicted them moving rapidly through the landscape, using fragmented forms and multiple viewpoints to give the impression of speed and movement.

For other artists, however, Cubism paved the way to an abstract art that was outside the hustle and bustle of the rapidly changing western world. French sculptor Jacques Lipchitz was one of the first artists to apply the principles of Cubism in three dimensions. His translation of multiple viewpoints into a series of white, abstract volumes created sculpture that had poise and a sense of timelessness. Similarly, Piet Mondrian's gentle fragmentation of the world around him was an attempt to create a 'purity' of form and structure, which he believed expressed a greater reality than the changing surface of the everyday world.

Severini. Suburban Train Arriving In Paris. 1915.
©ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2002