Time and space in art essay

Time and Space in Art Einstein believed that, ” There is no absolute space & there is no absolute time.” When Frenchman Georges Braque met Spaniard Pablo Picasso in 1907 little did they know that their contribution to the time & space perspective of art was no less than their contemporary Albert Einstein’s time & space theories of universe. (Miller, Alfred I.) Their Meeting was the founding stone of one of the most revolutionary art movements of human history. Cubism was about to be created and in next ten years it was to over turn 400 years history of conventional painting with a new, dynamic and exuberant style. The name cubism was named as such to reflect images composed of cubes. Cubism did not only change the approach of artists but also unfolded new dimensions to their work.

Most important of these dimensions was the idea reflecting time and space in artistic work. Braque & Picasso worked over these ideas simultaneously, so much so that they are known as brothers in cubism. Their early experiments dealt with efforts to represent a totally flatten image of space. They aspired to depart from the traditional understanding of angels and instead used dark colors and hard edging forms.

Picasso specially used these techniques to emphasize the larger space perspective. His pictures such as ‘ houses with trees’ and ‘ landscape with bridge’ specially highlight such work. During second stage of cubism knows as analytical cubism they both primarily worked on structures and ignored bright colors. The paintings of this period look as if they have deconstructed objects and rearranged them on the canvas. Traditionally, an object is always viewed from one specific viewpoint and at one specific moment in time but Picasso and Braque felt that this was too limiting. They wanted to represent an object as if they are viewing it from several angles or at different moments in time. The work of this period is very innovative but it ishard to comprehend for viewer as objects start to lose all sense of form.

This period is the highlight of their work on time and space. Masterpieces like ‘ The Mandolin’ and ‘ Ambroise Voilard’ are worth mentioning in this regard. The third period of cubism was synthetic cubism. Picasso and Braque continue to introduce new and contentious changes with the introduction of piecemeal objects into their paintings. ‘ Still Life with Chair Cane’ was one of the first of these experiments, and amalgamates chair caning with the paint, framed with a length of rope. ‘ Guitar, Sheet Music and Glass’ include different collaged papers: wall paper, a page of sheet music, a drawing of an abstracted glass, and a newspaper clip. Incidentally, this clip includes the headline, “ The battle has begun” which refers the revolution of representation the artists are achieving by introducing objects of the real world into their “ paintings”.

It truly was a revolution which would change the face of contemporary art for many years to come. The partnership between Picasso and Braque was ended by the First World War when the later went for war. After this, Picasso reverted to a more traditionalist style of images. It is believed that he did this as a reaction to society’s cynicism and shock from the horrors of the war. Cubism was later joined by Juan Gris, Fernand Léger, Robert Delaunay, and others.

Some of them took cubism to the extent of total abstraction which was not basically the desire of two men who created it. Many following 20th-century movements were influenced by the experimentation of the Cubists. Especially the use of time and space was Cubists contribution to modern art.;;; ReferencesAlfred I. Miller, Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time and the Beauty that Causes Havoc;;