his question attracted a good number of candidates, probably because of the popularity of cubism as a modern art movement. However, the quality of their responses varied. Some rightly identified the proponents as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque; others wrongly mentioned Cezanne, Leonardo and Raphael as the proponents of cubism. Candidates should have responded thus:
(a) Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.
(b) (Option 1) Pablo Picasso
- A Spanish painter from Malaga, Spain.
- widely acknowledged as the most important artist of the 20th Century.
- lived most of his life in France.
- experimented with a wide range of styles and themes throughout his career.
- pioneering Cubism was one of his many contributions to the development of Modern art.
- he had a penchant for experimentation and drawing inspirations from unusual sources which led to his most radical painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which was largely inspired by African masks and marked the origin of Cubism.
- Les Demoiselles d’Avignon consisted of women in jagged shapes, flattened figures and forms borrowed from African masks.
- his continuous experimentation took Cubism through different phases; analytical and synthetic.
(b) (Option 2) Georges Braque
- he was a French Painter.
- originated Cubism as an art movement with Pablo Picasso
thus, one of the major figures of 20th Century art.
- seemed to question most standard artistic conventions.
- the criticism of his work Houses at L’Estaque and Picasso’s Houses on the Hill, by French art Critic, Louis Vauxellesled to the name; Cubism.
- his continuous experimentation with Pablo Picasso took Cubism through different phases; Analytical and Synthetic.
