Picasso, Cubism and The Appeal of Abstraction
In addition to the rise of German Expressionism and its underlying subjectivism, true-to-life painting was coming under pressure from other artists who were dissatisfied with its old-fashioned image and its lack of intellectual possibilities. Unfortunately, in their attempt to 'reinterpret' and 'modernize' art, these artists effectively threw out the baby with the bath-water, a phenomenon which is perhaps illustrated by the work of the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-73) who excelled in both representational and non-representational art. (Note: For an explanation of modern works by artists like Picasso, please see: Analysis of Modern Paintings: 1800-2000.)
In his early career (c.1901-7), notably his "Blue Period" and "Rose Period", Picasso concentrated on realistic painting. This gave way to his short "African period" (époque negre) during which his imagery became more distorted (eg. "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon), and afterwards his revolutionary Cubism style (c.1908-19) whose disjointed forms (eg. "Girl With Mandolin", 1910) are among the most famous examples of non-representational painting. In very simple terms, Picasso thought that naturalistic art had reached its limits under the Impressionists (1870-1900) and Fauvists (c.1905). As a result, he decided to experiment with more non-representational/abstract art-forms - an approach which he and Georges Braque considered more 'intellectual' - whereupon they duly came up with Cubism. (Picasso's journey from realism to 'abstraction' is best viewed by studying his portfolio of portraits, up to his famous "Weeping Woman", 1937.)
Nonetheless, despite the genuinely revolutionary nature of Cubism and its contribution to the history of art, and despite Picasso's huge creative output during his 92 years of life - an oeuvre which included Expressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism - he was never really interested in pure abstraction, and most of his masterpieces were (arguably) representationalist. Note also his use of the classicist idiom - see: Neoclassical Figure Paintings by Picasso (1906-30) - and his contribution to the Classical Revival in modern art (c.1900-30).
Why is Representational Art Important?
According to the redoubtable philosopher Karl Popper, the objective significance of a statement is dependent on whether the latter can be proved to be false. If it cannot be shown to be false, it has no great significance. For example, my statement: "I think this is art" cannot be disproved and thus has no great significance except perhaps as evidence of my personal opinion.
Standard of Artistic Merit
Representational art is important first because it provides a standard by which artistic merit can be judged. For example, a portrait can be judged according to the likeness it conveys of the sitter; a landscape can be assessed according to its similarity with a particular scene; and a street-scene can be compared with real-life; a painting of a darkened scene can be judged according to how well it depicts light and shadow, so on. But non-representational art does not purport to represent anything in real-life, and therefore cannot be judged by reference to objective criteria. As a result, the reputation of non-representational painters and sculptors may depend entirely upon whims of fashion within the art world, rather than demonstrable skill.
A Foundation for All Visual Art
Secondly, representational art is an important foundation for all visual art, because it depends upon an artist's proficiency in drawing, perspective, use of colour/tone, portrayal of light and overall composition: skills which underpin numerous forms of visual art. Furthermore, these objective skills can be taught to students for the benefit of all, not least because such education can draw on, maintain and improve artistic methods.
Makes Art Accessible to the Public
Thirdly, because representational images are easily recognizable, and thus appreciable, they help to make art accessible to the general public. In contrast, abstract or non-representational artworks may require considerable knowledge on the part of the spectator before they can be 'truly' understood. This requirement often acts as a regrettable 'barrier' between artists and the public.
None of this devalues the intrinsic merits of abstract art. Nevertheless, I hope these points demonstrate that representational painting and sculpture plays an irreplaceable role in the creation, assessment and enjoyment of fine art, and should be strongly promoted by responsible individuals and bodies alike.
