Cubism
WordNet
noun
(1) An artistic movement in France beginning in 1907 that featured surfaces of geometrical planes
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From . One story is that, in 1908, as a new canvas by Braques was being carried past, someone said, “Encore des Cubes! assez de cubisme!”. The quotations below ascribe the coinage to Matisse.
See also the word cube (from , from ).
Noun
- An artistic movement in the early 20th Century characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes.
Quotations
- 2003, The New Yorker, 3 March,
- Matisse coined the name Cubism as a derisive joke.
- 2005, The New Yorker, 29 Aug, p. 78,
- A few recall that, in 1908, he [Matisse] inspired the coinage of the term “cubism,” in disparagement of a movement that would eclipse his leading influence on the Parisian avant-garde.