Bold examples of different phases of Cubism (from early experiments to late surprises)

Let’s start where things get messy in the best way: pre-Cubism, when Picasso and Braque were still poking holes in reality without a tidy name for it.

One powerful example of this proto-phase is Pablo Picasso’s _Les Demoiselles d’Avignon_ (1907). It isn’t fully Cubist yet, but it’s like the trailer for the movie. The women’s faces are smashed into mask-like planes, bodies are twisted into jagged shapes, and space feels like it’s folding in on itself. If you’re hunting for early examples of different phases of Cubism, this is your starting pistol. It shows Picasso breaking away from traditional perspective and flirting with African and Iberian sculpture in a way that shocked his friends.

Another early experiment is Georges Braque’s _Houses at L’Estaque_ (1908). From a distance it looks like a quiet village; up close, it’s a stack of chunky blocks and faceted rooftops. The landscape is still readable, but it’s on the verge of becoming a geometric code. These early works are some of the best examples of artists getting bored with realism and asking, “What if we paint what we know about objects, not just what we see from one angle?”

When you line up these early canvases, you start to see real examples of Cubism forming: simplified shapes, fractured planes, and a strong sense that the artists are testing how far they can bend reality before it snaps.

Analytical Cubism: classic examples of different phases of Cubism

Now we hit the phase most people picture when they think “Cubism”: Analytical Cubism, roughly 1909–1912. This is where objects are taken apart like mechanical toys and reassembled across the canvas.

One of the best-known examples of different phases of Cubism in this period is Picasso’s _Girl with a Mandolin_ (1910). The figure is still there, but she’s barely holding together under a swarm of intersecting planes. Color is drained down to browns and grays so your eye focuses on structure, not decoration. This is a textbook example of Analytical Cubism turning a human body into a kind of spatial diagram.

Georges Braque’s _Violin and Palette_ (1909) is another key example of this phase. The violin is broken apart into angled facets, hovering over a background that feels like a collapsing wall. Braque leaves a tiny painted nail and a sliver of realistic palette at the top, as if to wink and remind you: “Yes, I can paint normally. I’m choosing not to.”

If you want more real examples of Analytical Cubism to compare, look at:

• Picasso’s _Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler_ (1910) – a gallery dealer turned into a crystalline maze of browns.
• Braque’s _The Portuguese_ (1911) – a figure almost dissolved into angular fragments, with stenciled letters floating over the surface.

These paintings are some of the best examples of Cubism at its most intense: limited color, dense overlapping planes, and subjects that feel like they’ve been seen from every angle at once. When you’re studying examples of different phases of Cubism, Analytical works are the ones that make you squint and think, “Okay… where’s the face?”

Synthetic Cubism: colorful, playful examples include collage and text

By 1912, Picasso and Braque seem to collectively decide: “We’ve taken things apart enough. Let’s start putting them back together—just not in the usual way.” Enter Synthetic Cubism, a later phase that gives us some of the most fun examples of Cubism.

Here, examples include bold color, simpler shapes, and—most importantly—collage. Instead of just painting a café table, they start gluing actual pieces of newspaper, wallpaper, and printed labels directly onto the canvas.

A classic example of this phase is Picasso’s _Still Life with Chair Caning_ (1912). There’s a rope frame, an oval surface, and a chunk of oilcloth printed with chair-caning texture. It’s part painting, part object, part visual joke. He’s literally sticking reality onto the artwork. This is one of the best examples of how Synthetic Cubism breaks the barrier between art and everyday stuff.

Another strong example is Braque’s _Fruit Dish and Glass_ (1912). Here he uses pasted paper that imitates wood grain alongside painted elements. Letters and words creep into the composition, blurring the line between image and text. Real examples of different phases of Cubism don’t get more obvious than this: Analytical Cubism dissects; Synthetic Cubism rebuilds with mixed media.

Other Synthetic Cubist highlights:

• Picasso’s _Three Musicians_ (1921) – flat, colorful shapes locked together like a jigsaw puzzle of harlequins and instruments.
• Juan Gris’s _The Sunblind_ (1914) – a café scene with sharp-edged shapes, strong color contrasts, and a cleaner, more graphic style.

If Analytical Cubism feels like x-ray vision, Synthetic Cubism feels like a designer’s playground, and these paintings are vivid examples of different phases of Cubism shifting into something more graphic and modern.

Beyond Picasso and Braque: real examples from other Cubists

Cubism wasn’t a two-man show. Once the idea hit Paris, other artists ran with it and twisted it into their own styles. Looking at their work gives you richer examples of different phases of Cubism in action.

Juan Gris is a favorite for people who like their Cubism a bit cleaner. His _Portrait of Picasso_ (1912) is a sharp-edged, almost architectural breakdown of his friend’s face. Where Picasso and Braque sometimes feel murky, Gris feels organized, almost like a graphic designer planning a poster.

Fernand Léger takes Cubism and injects it with machine energy. In _The City_ (1919) and _Contrast of Forms_ (1913), figures and buildings become tubular shapes and bold blocks, pointing toward modern industrial life. These works are great examples of different phases of Cubism colliding with the rise of the modern city.

Then you have Robert and Sonia Delaunay, who spin Cubism toward color and movement. Robert’s _Simultaneous Windows_ series and Sonia’s abstract compositions use fractured shapes and bright hues to suggest rhythm and light. They’re not Analytical in the strict sense, but they are real examples of Cubist thinking applied to color and motion instead of just objects.

Looking at these artists alongside Picasso and Braque helps you see that examples of different phases of Cubism aren’t just a straight line; they’re more like a constellation of experiments, all riffing on fragmentation, multiple viewpoints, and reassembled reality.

Cubism in sculpture and design: 3D examples of different phases of Cubism

Cubism didn’t stay flat on the canvas. It snuck into sculpture, furniture, and even architecture, giving us three-dimensional examples of different phases of Cubism.

Take Alexander Archipenko, whose sculptures like _Walking Woman_ (1912) slice the human figure into hollowed-out volumes and angular forms. It’s like Analytical Cubism stepped off the canvas and started walking.

Jacques Lipchitz offers another compelling example of Cubist sculpture. Works such as _Bather_ (1917) and his later bronze pieces present bodies and instruments as interlocking geometric volumes, echoing both Analytical and Synthetic Cubist ideas in three dimensions.

Even design picks up the vibe. Early 20th‑century furniture with angular silhouettes, faceted surfaces, and blocky forms can be read as applied Cubism. Some Art Deco buildings and interiors show a Cubist influence in their stacked volumes and zigzag patterns—real examples of Cubist thinking bleeding into everyday environments.

These 3D works are some of the best examples of different phases of Cubism expanding beyond painting: the same obsession with fractured form, just translated into space you can walk around.

Contemporary echoes: 2024–2025 examples that still feel Cubist

Cubism might be over a century old, but its DNA is all over contemporary art and digital culture. If you’re looking for living, breathing examples of different phases of Cubism today, you don’t have to stay in museums.

In recent years, you’ll find painters on social platforms and in galleries riffing on Cubism with neon color palettes, glitch aesthetics, and pop-culture subjects. Think portraits where faces are sliced into flat planes and reassembled like a phone screen mid-glitch—real examples that feel like Synthetic Cubism got upgraded to a 2025 operating system.

Digital artists use 3D software to build fragmented figures and cityscapes that echo Analytical Cubism’s multi-angle approach. Some VR installations let viewers walk inside a Cubist space, turning the fractured perspective into an immersive environment. These are modern examples of different phases of Cubism colliding with technology: instead of oil paint and collage, the tools are polygons and code.

Even branding and illustration pick up Cubist cues: angular portraits in magazine covers, geometric music posters, and stylized sports illustrations that break bodies into sharp planes. They might not be labeled Cubist, but they are quiet examples of Cubist logic—simplify, fracture, recombine—still shaping how we visualize the world.

If you want to connect classic Cubist works with current practice, compare Picasso’s _Three Musicians_ to a contemporary flat-vector illustration of a band. You’ll see the same Synthetic Cubist idea: characters built from bold, interlocking shapes, colors doing as much storytelling as line.

How to recognize the phase: a quick cheat sheet in words

When you’re standing in front of a painting and trying to figure out which phase it belongs to, real examples are your best teacher. Here’s how to read the clues without turning this into a dry lecture.

If the colors are muted, the surface is dense with tiny planes, and you feel like you’re looking at an object from five angles at once, you’re probably in Analytical Cubism territory. Examples include _Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler_ and _The Portuguese_.

If the shapes are bigger, the colors louder, and you can spot pasted paper, text, or flat decorative patterns, you’re likely seeing Synthetic Cubism. Examples include _Still Life with Chair Caning_, _Fruit Dish and Glass_, and _Three Musicians_.

If the work feels like it’s halfway between late Impressionism and full Cubism—still readable, but with chunky, simplified geometry—then you’re probably looking at an early or transitional phase. Examples include _Les Demoiselles d’Avignon_ and _Houses at L’Estaque_.

Using these examples of different phases of Cubism as reference points, you can start to place almost any Cubist-inspired work on your own mental timeline.

FAQ: quick answers using real examples

What are some famous examples of different phases of Cubism?

Famous examples of different phases of Cubism include Picasso’s _Les Demoiselles d’Avignon_ as an early experiment, _Girl with a Mandolin_ and Braque’s _Violin and Palette_ for Analytical Cubism, and _Still Life with Chair Caning_ or _Three Musicians_ for Synthetic Cubism. Juan Gris’s _Portrait of Picasso_ and Fernand Léger’s _The City_ show how other artists adapted Cubist ideas.

Can you give an example of Synthetic Cubism that uses collage?

A classic example of Synthetic Cubism with collage is Picasso’s _Still Life with Chair Caning_ (1912). He glued a piece of printed oilcloth that imitates chair caning onto the surface and framed it with rope, mixing real materials with painted forms. Braque’s _Fruit Dish and Glass_ (1912) is another strong example of pasted paper and text integrated into a Cubist still life.

How do museum collections help me study examples of different phases of Cubism?

Major museums publish high-quality images and essays that walk through examples of different phases of Cubism. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, and the Tate offer online collections where you can compare early, Analytical, and Synthetic works side by side, read curator notes, and see how different artists interpreted the same ideas.

Are there modern examples of Cubism in digital art?

Yes. Many digital artists use fragmented geometry, overlapping planes, and multi-angle views of figures and architecture—direct echoes of Cubism. You’ll see this in 3D-rendered portraits, glitchy illustrations, and VR environments that feel like walking through a Cubist painting. These are contemporary examples of different phases of Cubism translated into pixels and polygons.

What’s one easy example of a painting to start with if I’m new to Cubism?

If you want one clear example of Cubism to start with, try Picasso’s _Three Musicians_. The figures are built from flat, colorful shapes that lock together like a puzzle. It’s easier to read than the dense Analytical works, but still shows how Cubism rearranges reality into bold, graphic forms.