Synthetic Cubism

A phase of Cubism that builds compositions from simplified shapes, bold color, and assembled materials, especially pasted paper. It developed in the 1910s as artists constructed images from distinct visual elements.

papier collé: A collage technique in which pieces of paper are pasted onto a support to form an image. Braque and Picasso used pasted paper to make real materials part of the composition.
Analytic Cubism: An early phase of Cubism that fragmented subjects into muted, overlapping facets. Synthetic Cubism replaced much of Analytic Cubism’s dense fragmentation with larger, clearer forms.
Imitation: The practice of representing a subject by making an image resemble its appearance. Synthetic Cubist works expose their construction instead of concealing every material in illusion.
Juan Gris: A Spanish painter associated with Cubism, known for carefully structured compositions and clear color. Gris developed a distinctive, systematic approach to Synthetic Cubist composition.
Collage: An artistic technique that combines pasted fragments of paper, photographs, or other materials on a surface. Synthetic Cubism made collage a central way to construct pictures.
Pablo Picasso: A Spanish artist whose work helped shape modern art, including Cubism. Picasso developed Synthetic Cubist compositions with Georges Braque.
Perspective: A system for representing three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. Synthetic Cubist pictures flatten space rather than consistently following a single-point perspective system.
Fernand Léger: A French painter whose work combined Cubist forms with bold, machine-like imagery. Léger adapted Cubist simplification into compositions of strong color and mechanical forms.
Newspaper in art: The use of newspaper as material or imagery in artworks. Newspaper fragments introduced printed text and everyday visual culture into Cubist compositions.
Georges Braque: A French artist who co-founded Cubism with Pablo Picasso. Braque’s papier collé experiments helped establish Synthetic Cubism’s use of pasted material.

Linked from 6 pages

The Weeping WomanRelated: Its sharper color and simplified forms help frame comparisons with Picasso’s later style.