Cubism was a form of art largely invented by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the early 1900s. They brought different views of objects or figures together in the same picture, resulting in abstract pieces. According to the Tate Gallery, breaking objects and figures into plane shapes allowed the artists to show different viewpoints at the same time and within the same space and so suggest their three dimensional form. In doing so they also emphasized the two-dimensional flatness of the canvas instead of creating the illusion of depth.

Create your own cubism! Click the following links for some tutorials at varying levels of artistic ability to learn how to draw in a cubist style!

• Easy cubism art project (beginner)
• Cubism art for kids (beginner)
• Draw a cubist portrait (beginner)
• Cubist closer (mid-range) **Note: You can use crayons, markers, or oil pastels!
• Draw a cubist portrait (mid-range)
• Klee inspired hearts (mid-range) **Note: You can just use crayons, or you can go over it with watercolor
• Dine inspired hearts (mid-range) **Note: Use the beginning instructions from the Klee hearts, but apply Picasso styles as seen in the pictures from this link
• Draw a cubist instrument (advanced) **Note: Scroll down to Activity 2

David Smith was a welder/sculptor. He was influenced by the works of Julio Gonzalez and Pablo Picasso, and his iron and steel sculptures showed his love of cubism. Smith completed 28 different pieces for the Cubi collection. The sculptures are primarily composed of cubes, rectangular prisms, and cylinders. They are all made of stainless steel and are burnished in a way that makes them highly reflective. According to the Guggenheim Museum, Smith said: “I made them and I polished them in such a way that on a dull day they take on a dull blue, or the color of the sky in the late afternoon sun, the glow, golden like the rays, the colors of nature.” See below for examples from the Cubi collection.