Modern Art- Cubism and Mexican Modernism

     Cubism is an early-20th-century art movement pioneered by Pablo Picasso. It was created by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque in Paris around 1907 and 1914. Cubism was the first abstract style of modern art. A Cubist painter wanted to emphasize the two-dimensionality of the canvas. They reduced geometric forms. Also cubist painting ignores the traditions of perspective drawing. Picasso and Braque combined representational motifs with letters. Cubism makes visible some important characteristics of modern life. Cubism suggest constant change and evolution. In addition in cubist artwork objects are analyzed, broken up. It was used to revolt against society and the first world war. There are two features found in every Cubist artwork. The first is ambiguity between the background and foreground. An object or subject's location in the painting is questionable. The second is that Cubism takes multiple view points of the object or subject and shows those perspectives simultaneously. This is what gives Cubism it's signature look and feel.

     This is a portrait made by the artist Pablo Picasso in 1909. Pablo Picasso was a Spanish artist from 1881-1973. The name of the portrait is "Woman with Pears" and was made with oil on canvas. The of the portrait is 36 1/4 x 27 7/8" (92.1 x 70.8 cm). The portrait was made during the time of the cubist revolution. it was the time known as Cubism. Pablo Picasso portrayed one of his companions, Fernande Olivier within this portrait. While the pears in the background are modeled as round geometric shapes, he described Olivier, the women, geometrically. Olivier’s head and bust are described as geometrical segments. It represents the idea of cubism that depict the world as it is and not as it seems. Furthermore, the painting cares more about structure and space rather than color. It is very interesting that he painted it as three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional surface. 

     This portrait was made by the artist David Alfaro Siqueiros in 1936. David Alfaro Siqueiros was a young Mexican artist from 1896-1974. The name of the portrait is "Collective Suicide" and was made with lacquer on wood with applied sections. The size of the portrait is 49" x  6' (124.5 x 182.9 cm). The portrait was made after the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). Siqueiros was the most politically radical. He was also arrested several times for his artwork. Collective Suicide features several innovative techniques that artist explored as part of Siqueiros Experimental Workshop that he founded in 1936. The top third layer of the panel was airbrushed with paint and stencils were used to depict the army of invading seventeenth-century Spanish conquistadors on horseback (lower right) and Chichimec Indians leaping to their deaths to avoid subjugation (left). Siqueiros's radical experiments proved influential for Abstract Expressionist artist Jackson Pollock.