What is the difference between cubism and orphism?

Published on : 21 February 20222 min reading time
Cubism is an artistic movement that existed between 1907 and 1914 at the initiative of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. It offers a conceptual distortion of reality, never abstract, but in which subjects are represented in geometric forms. There are three types of cubism: analytical, synthetic and orphic.

Analytical cubism

Cubism is an artistic movement of the early 20th century, developed by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, under the influence of Cézanne. It was built in a hermetic way before it attracted the interest of many painters such as Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger and Juan Gris. Cubism was a revolution in sculpture and painting and influenced architecture, literature and music. The first phase of this form of art is referred to as Analytical Cubism, which took place from 1910 to 1912 and was explored above all by Braque and Picasso. The special feature of this period is that fewer colours are used, but with many more geometric shapes.

Synthetic Cubism

As a result of the spatial invasion of signs, painters had the idea of showing objects synthetically or more through their essential features. Hence synthetic cubism was born in 1912 to 1914. This is the second main branch of Cubism, developed by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris and many others. Synthetic Cubism grew out of Analytical Cubism, which was experimental back then. In other words, analytical cubism is an analysis of the subject and its facets while rather projecting the movement into its most playful era, selecting the most representative parts of the deconstructed object. Synthetic Cubism lasted for the period that followed the First World War.

Orphic Cubism

Apollinaire distinguished scientific cubism from orphic cubism in 1912 at the Section d’Or exhibition. He associated this term with the cubist movement in reference to his poem, Orpheus, published in 1912 in his work Méditations Esthétiques. This was one of the major aspects of avant-garde ideology in the early 20th century. Artists were inspired by Orphic Cubism to invent synthetic painting, which appeals to the senses. It’s worth noting that his art form also refers to music. Orphic Cubism represents the last phase of the cubic movement and is characterised by the use of figurative elements that represent reality through pure geometric forms. The work in Orphic painting is based on the light that reflects colour.

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