Cubist Collage

Cubism was invented by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. Both artists questioned the way we see the world and wanted to develop a new approach to represent our reality and experience of an object. The Cubist painters analysed objects and reduced them to basic geometric parts, making 3D objects into 2D. The French art critic Louis Vauxcelles coined the term ‘Cubism’ after observing that the geometric forms looked like highly abstracted ‘cubes’.

Cubism had two different stages: Analytical Cubism and Synthetic Cubism. In Analytical Cubism, Picasso and Braque broke images up into fragments to reveal lots of different perspectives.  These works were usually painted in shades of black, grey, and brown. Synthetic Cubism is known for the use of simple shapes and bright colours. The artists often experimented with collage using different patterns and textures. The Cubists’ favourite things to paint during the synthetic period were everyday objects, like musical instruments, bottles, jugs, glasses and newspapers, which were often expressed as a still life.

• Consider the following cubist works by Picasso, Braque, Gris and Blanchard. What do they all have in common?
• What sorts of objects did these artists choose to represent?
• Why are their representations of these objects unusual?
• How do you think Picasso, Braque and the Salon Cubists made these artworks?
• Look closely at Georges Braque’s Woman with a guitar. What are some of the different ways he has shown us a guitar? How has he used colour to help us recognise the characteristics of a guitar?
• Look closely at Picasso’s Le Violon How many different shapes can you see that remind you of a violin?
• Look closely at Maria Blanchard’s Child with a hoop How has she used colour and shape to represent the hoop? What different textures and patterns can you see?

• Envelope
• Cereal box
• Cardboard
• Newspaper
• Scrap paper
• Wrapping paper
• Coloured paper
• A3 paper
• Pencil
• Black marker
• Glue stick
• Scissors

The first step in making your Cubist collage is choosing one or two objects that you would like to represent. You might consider the following objects:

• a glass of water
• a box of tissues
• a container of pencils
• a water bottle
• a bowl
• cutlery
• a musical instrument like a piano, guitar, trumpet, or violin.

Now that you have chosen what to represent, it’s time to make your own Cubist collage.

• Arrange your objects on the table. Like the Cubists, you are going to try drawing this object from different angles and perspectives.
• Think about what your object looks like from above, below and side and front. You might also like to experiment with the scale or try only drawing one part or detail.
• Choose different paper for each drawing. Using a pencil, draw the outline of your object from different perspectives. Try to show at least three different views.
• Once you have finished your drawings, trace over the pencil with a black marker.
• Use scissors to cut around the outline making sure that you include the black outline of your drawing.
• You should now have at least three different drawings of your object. Try arranging all your drawings on an A3 piece of paper. Consider how you will set the scene and make the different images work together. How will you use the positive and negative space?
• Once you are happy with the arrangement, use your glue sticks to paste your collage.
• Finish by adding patterns, texture or colour within the outlines with collage materials or coloured pencils and markers.

• What are some unusual things you noticed about your object as you drew it? Consider the object’s shape, texture, colour or anything else that stood out to you.

• Now that you have made a Cubist artwork, why do you think the artists discussed engaged with this art movement, instead of continuing to follow a traditional, realistic approach to representing their world in their artworks?