How Does Cubism Really Work in Asia?
'Misunderstanding' the essence of the genre leads to a unique interpretation
Soon after the introduction of cubism by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in early 20th century, it spread widely across other European nations, going through Eastern Europe, Russia, the United States, and later onto Asia. As one of the forces of Western modernism, cubism brought a kind of revolutionary approach in portraying an object. With cubism, the essence of an object might be captured by looking at the painting from different points simultaneously.
An early work of Picasso, "Landscape with Posters" (1912), might be a good example for a beginner to understand the genre. This painting produces three-dimensional effects of flat and sharp planes of the objects. If we look closely at the painting from different angles, we might have a multidimensional view of the same object.
As for Asia, Western contemporary theory suggests that Asian artists experienced less influence compared with Westerns artists. The problem occurred as Asian artists merely interpreted the genre as a technique to draw objects using firm, straight lines and planes. Cubism as a driving force of Western Modernism was acknowledged by Asian artists as being an innovative idea, although the concept was received with various interpretations. Japan was the first Asian country, followed by China, 100 years later. Meanwhile, other Asian countries experienced the influence in 1950s and 1960s, mostly after gaining their independence from Western colonization.
Earlier this month, I had a chance to confirm what contemporary art theory suggests about cubism in Asia, by looking at 120 works of Asian artists from 11 countries in the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. It was the first time in the world to examine comprehensively, cubism in Asia. Researchers and curators worked for years to compile 120 paintings from 11 Asian countries. While some might easily find a misconception of cubism, I, however, argue that Asian artists with their lack of theory in cubism have developed the idea in unique ways.
Some experts might call them misunderstandings, because they could not assess the works using text-book-based criteria. But for Asian painters who are more familiar with other genres such as surrealism, cubism is perhaps just another gate to generate their own style, later called semi-transparent shapes, which does not appear in Western artists' work. Vincente Manansala from the Philippines, for example, is one prominent artist that promotes semi-transparent shapes. His works are really eye-catching and produce the multidimensional effect found in any cubist's work.
Again, some experts and scholars might argue that a misunderstanding does exist among Asian painters, but in the later period, explorations performed by Asian painters are easily found during 1990s, and they do not merely obey the firm and sharp-lined doctrines of cubism.
Prominent Indian artist Jehangir Sabavala in his work "Jugs in Consonance" (1959) translated this genre not merely into sharp and straight lines and planes, but also into semi-transparent planes, curves and round shapes in the late 1950s, when the genre was just spreading in Asian countries.
Akira Tatehata, one of the researchers examining cubism in Asia, argues that there is a kind of misconception or misunderstanding of cubism among Asian artists. As the result, some paintings from Asian countries might not fit into any genre of cubism.
However, if the misconception ends up creating a unique and extraordinary work, regardless if it does not fit into any cubism category based on Western modern art theories, why should we worry? So, let cubism be spread in an unusual way in Asia.
Lily Yulianti Farid is a writer based in Tokyo.
Soon after the introduction of cubism by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in early 20th century, it spread widely across other European nations, going through Eastern Europe, Russia, the United States, and later onto Asia. As one of the forces of Western modernism, cubism brought a kind of revolutionary approach in portraying an object. With cubism, the essence of an object might be captured by looking at the painting from different points simultaneously.
An early work of Picasso, "Landscape with Posters" (1912), might be a good example for a beginner to understand the genre. This painting produces three-dimensional effects of flat and sharp planes of the objects. If we look closely at the painting from different angles, we might have a multidimensional view of the same object.
As for Asia, Western contemporary theory suggests that Asian artists experienced less influence compared with Westerns artists. The problem occurred as Asian artists merely interpreted the genre as a technique to draw objects using firm, straight lines and planes. Cubism as a driving force of Western Modernism was acknowledged by Asian artists as being an innovative idea, although the concept was received with various interpretations. Japan was the first Asian country, followed by China, 100 years later. Meanwhile, other Asian countries experienced the influence in 1950s and 1960s, mostly after gaining their independence from Western colonization.
Earlier this month, I had a chance to confirm what contemporary art theory suggests about cubism in Asia, by looking at 120 works of Asian artists from 11 countries in the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. It was the first time in the world to examine comprehensively, cubism in Asia. Researchers and curators worked for years to compile 120 paintings from 11 Asian countries. While some might easily find a misconception of cubism, I, however, argue that Asian artists with their lack of theory in cubism have developed the idea in unique ways.
Some experts might call them misunderstandings, because they could not assess the works using text-book-based criteria. But for Asian painters who are more familiar with other genres such as surrealism, cubism is perhaps just another gate to generate their own style, later called semi-transparent shapes, which does not appear in Western artists' work. Vincente Manansala from the Philippines, for example, is one prominent artist that promotes semi-transparent shapes. His works are really eye-catching and produce the multidimensional effect found in any cubist's work.
Again, some experts and scholars might argue that a misunderstanding does exist among Asian painters, but in the later period, explorations performed by Asian painters are easily found during 1990s, and they do not merely obey the firm and sharp-lined doctrines of cubism.
Prominent Indian artist Jehangir Sabavala in his work "Jugs in Consonance" (1959) translated this genre not merely into sharp and straight lines and planes, but also into semi-transparent planes, curves and round shapes in the late 1950s, when the genre was just spreading in Asian countries.
Akira Tatehata, one of the researchers examining cubism in Asia, argues that there is a kind of misconception or misunderstanding of cubism among Asian artists. As the result, some paintings from Asian countries might not fit into any genre of cubism.
However, if the misconception ends up creating a unique and extraordinary work, regardless if it does not fit into any cubism category based on Western modern art theories, why should we worry? So, let cubism be spread in an unusual way in Asia.
Lily Yulianti Farid is a writer based in Tokyo.
posted by Joa at
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
