Rise of cubism

Cubism was developed in Paris by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who broke away from the single-viewpoint perspective used in European painting since the Renaissance. Picasso's painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon of 1907, with its fractured forms inspired by African masks and Iberian sculpture, is often seen as the starting point, along with the influence of Paul Cezanne. In its analytic phase, around 1909 to 1912, objects were broken into overlapping facets in muted browns and greys, and a later synthetic phase introduced collage and brighter colours. The name is said to come from the critic Louis Vauxcelles, who described Braque's work as made of little cubes. Juan Gris and Fernand Leger were among other artists who adopted the style.

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