Cubism explained for 10-year-olds
Cubism is a style of painting that started about 100 years ago when artists looked at things from many sides at the same time.
Key ideas:
- Many perspectives - Instead of showing only one view, artists drew objects as if you could see from the front, side, and top at once.
- Geometric shapes - Objects are broken into shapes like squares, triangles, and rectangles.
- Pieces together - Some works look like a puzzle, with many shapes fitting together to make a whole picture.
- New ideas - Sometimes artists used collage and mixed in pieces of paper or fabric.
Two famous cubists you might hear about are Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. They helped people see the world in a new way.
Try it yourself
- Pick a simple object (like a chair or an apple).
- Draw it from two or three different angles on the same page.
- Connect the shapes you see with lines and put them together in one picture.
Tip: Look at a cubist painting and notice how many different directions you can spot in one image.