The Intertwining of Phenomenology and Cubism — In the Analyses and Works of Art of Czech Artists and Theoreticians

This study derives from the genealogy of phenomenological and cubistic aims and their thematic interests at the beginning of the 20th century in the Central-European milieu. In the first part, we observe common and close questions of Husserl's philosophy on the one side and the new artistic initiative of cubists on the other. This level of observation and comparison is in the second part recognized and deepened thanks to the analyses of Czech philosophers (Bayerov, Patoka, Mathauser), theoreticians (Vlek, Kram, Lama and others) and works of cubists themselves (Kubita, Filla, Hofman and others). The philosophical scope of the consideration also opens the principal question -which is the topic of the third part of the study -of the intertwining of phenomenological and cubistic methods (epoch, reduction and pictorial elaboration). Because it is not one unitary style, Cubism brings with it a complicated interpretative task: in relation to this, we present the polemic concerning the use of polyperspectivity and geometrisation; thanks to phenomenology, their deeper meaning can be revealed. We identify as phenomenological tendencies in cubistic works of art, their claim to liberate perception, to create pure forms and to refuse the symbolic, representative and imitative function of art. We analyse these questions with respect to the creative possibilities of the subject/artist as well as the pictorial/ perceptive character of the world.