Another artist who came to mind as I considered these works was Tamara de Lempicka, a Polish Art Deco painter. I have included one of her most famous pieces below, "The Musician," executed in 1929.
Observing a painting as closely as I did this one, I learned a lot about de Lempicka's style, her use of gradients and inclusion of faceted areas, definitely influenced by Cubism, and the juxtaposition of the female form with more geometric forms. It struck me at the time also that de Lempicka painted the human body and the soft folds of silky looking fabric much the same way she painted the more mechanistic structures. For example the arms looked like cylinders and the breasts like cones. The result was an eerie, almost mannequin-like portrait. Another example, below, is the famous self portrait of the artist. I have included a photo of the artist as well.
Apollinaire, the French poet who adopted the term "Cubism," very much admired what he called the "rigorous logic" of Metzinger's paintings. After looking at a lot of Metzinger's work, I have chosen as my favorite the painting below, titled "Woman with a Fan, from 1912. So many aspects of this piece resonate with me! I am enthralled with the cubist elements, as well as drawn to the linear repetition. I also admire the subtle, limited color palette, and of course, the inclusion of DOTS! (For those who are not familiar with my recurring obsession with dots, please click on my painting below right, titled "Striped Sofa with Girl," to see some examples of my dot paintings.)
I close today with thanks to Don Hollis for accompanying me on my Cubist pilgrimage, and with these words from Joseph Campbell: