JOURNALS

In the Margins, Mr. François Fosca examines the “assessment of cubism” according to one of the panegyrists of this fashion, Mr. Lhôte:

“The means that Mr. Lhôte praises cubism for having brought, are they new, should we register them to his credit?”

First of all, the composition without holes or trompe l'oeil perspective does not seem peculiar to Cubism. That it was neglected by Impressionism, which made the study of the atmosphere, of what used to be called aerial perspective, predominate, all right; but it was always, until Corot, Manet and Monet, the composition familiar to all classical painting since Giotto, Courbet and Puvis included.

Abandoned by Impressionism, following the importance given to the "open air", it was restored to honor by Cézanne, and, following him, by artists who were in no way Cubists, such as Gauguin, Charles Guérin , Maurice Denis, Roussel, Friesz, even Matisse, and many others. For, it should be noted in passing, this is one of the most specious assertions of the partisans of cubism. To hear them, there would have been no one, except Cézanne, between Impressionism and Cubism, between Monet and Picasso. Without any transition, Picasso's Guitarist would have contradicted Monet's Water Lilies. The jump still seems a bit abrupt.