What are proto-, analytical- and synthetic- cubism?
Analytical cubism was the first style of cubism that Picasso and Braque came up with jointly. It is best described by Picasso’s Girl with a Mandolin. Basically, the image he was trying to represent was broken down into a 2D image that showed all 3D sides. The colors were kept fairly monochromatic, so as to emphasize shape more thoroughly. The second stage of cubism was synthetic, and was more about collage than anything. It can be best described as Picasso’s still life with chair caning. Synthetic was called so because it wasn’t entirely made with paint, but by applying other textures to the painting plane such as bits of newspaper or tobacco wrappers. Proto cubism was the last stage. It can be described visually by Braques Large Nude. Basically it’s just a distortion of the human figure. It shows simultaneous views of the same subject in different ways.
