cubism

[ kyoo-biz-uhm ]

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.

cubism

/ 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

cubism

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

Derived Forms

• cuˈbistically, adverb
• ˈcubist, adjectivenoun
• cuˈbistic, adjective

Other Words From

• cubist noun
• cub·istic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cubism¹

< French cubisme (1908); cube ¹, -ism

Example Sentences

He began painting what he would call “intuitive abstractions,” and “cosmic cubism.”

From The Daily Beast

Weirdly, he mostly avoided Cubism, even though he got wild Cezannes that foreshadow that movement.

From The Daily Beast

And above those hang two new oval canvases, clear and bold and crisp, as though they were clearing out cubism's fogs.

From The Daily Beast

The next gallery offers rose-tinted portraits and a marked, pre-Cubism dalliance with neoclassicism.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, we get predictable gallery delineations (Blue Period, Rose Period, Cubism) and surface-skimming biographical details.

From The Daily Beast

It is an essentially beautiful and satisfying contribution to modern painting, this nacreous cubism of Marie Laurencin.

From Project Gutenberg

It was scarce two years since we first heard of "Cubism" when the "Futurists" were calling the "Cubists" reactionary.

From Project Gutenberg

Their designs include not only the traditional but also elements of modern art styles, such as cubism and abstraction.

From Project Gutenberg

Cubism is nothing but the extreme manifestation of this passion for order, for the complete organization of forms and colours.

From Project Gutenberg

With Cubism conscious stheticism holds the field, for the Cubist theory is, in the main, sthetic.

From Project Gutenberg