Cubism Unveiled: A Literary Canvas in Gertrude Stein's 'Tender Buttons' - Free Paper

Cubism is a form of art style where there is movement and interlocking, especially in painting, which utilizes interlocking planes (Silva, 2017). The interlocking planes were of preference, but later collage was also used in drawings that utilized this painting style. The artists who painted the works using the technique drew inspiration from Paris's happenings in the early 20th century. The main idea of using Cubism in painting by artists such as Picasso and Georges Braque was to deviate from the usual standard of sculpture and alter art's meaning. The point is to break objects to show varying viewpoints simultaneously and, in part, recognize their three form dimension. This style of art was a movement that began in 1907 in France (Barr, 2019). The most notable artist who used this kind of art style was Pablo Picasso. Through the class, Pablo Picasso and his counterpart Georges Braque brought a new view to subjects, especially objects in the same presentation.

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The paintings in appearance were abstract and fragmented. The connection between Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein and Cubism lies in her inspiration from interacting with artists such as Pablo Picasso. The inspiration of Pablo Picasso was drawn from the artist Paul Cézanne whose late paintings utilized the cubism style of painting (Stonard, 2017). Gertrude and Picasso interacted on many occasions, and Picasso even made a portrait of Gertrude Stein. The interaction with Picasso and other revolutionary artists such as Henri Matisse birthed her ideas of writing. She wanted to be different, sound different, and introduce a new way of seeing objects by playing with words. The comment she made about her portrait by Picasso," I was. I still am satisfied with my painting; for me, it is I, and it picture reproduction of me, which is always I, clearly showed she was interested in writing and saying words differently (Recker, 2016). In the book, Tender Buttons, the cubism style is clear to see as objects undergo representation that aligns with the type of Cubism.

The cubism style paintings utilize planes to represent objects to achieve a way of representation of the items in a different way to give a viewer a different perspective on things. The cover of the book Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein shows Cubism was used to draw the painting that adorns the front cover. The painting is of a woman, and visually it is not an ordinary representation of a woman. Many images and the picture had to undergo incorporation with lines showing different planes. The concept, when compared to other paintings of artists who utilized the cubism style, is similar. The picture gives the reader an idea of what they are to encounter when reading the book. At first glance, it shows the first connection between the book and Cubism.

In her exploits of collecting art early in life, Gertrude Stein encountered Cubism on several occasions because she interacted with Pablo Picasso in many instances and the style of painting captivated her imagination in many ways. The development of Cubism was in two phases. In the first phase, analytical Cubism takes a deeper severer form of Cubism where planes interweave with lines, and the tone of representation is in three colors; Ochres, grey, and black (Johnson, 2019). A good look at the picture on Gertrude Stein’s book's cover shows the utilization of the three colors grey, black, and Ochres. Cubism's synthetic form is a phase that ran from 1912 after analytical Cubism (Klawans, 2017). The style makes use of bright colors and simpler shapes. The technique includes the incorporation of real objects in a painting. The painting on the cover of the book represents the same form of art style because there is a book and a house in the picture. It shows that there is a close similarity between the painting and the synthetic form of Cubism. Understanding the relationship between Gertrude Stein and Cubism's work necessitates the understanding of cultural, historical, and social constraints when the state of the art underwent introduction.

At the time of introducing Cubism, the 20th century experienced many machines and revolutions in various industries. People’s thinking has borrowed a leaf from the multiple innovations and changes taking place at the time. There was a differentiation in view, and people began to embrace change. The variations also necessitated a change in artistic representations to bring new forms of presenting art to audiences. Changes in art representation were inevitable, and as some scholars recommended, there had to be a unique style and structure of art representing their imagination. The artists wanted to give a different view of the usual way of seeing things in the world. The attention to detail by showing an object in different dimensions showed that all the parts of the item were present and represented in some form.

At the time, the world was becoming dynamic, with the usual opposition while ushering the world into a new era of seeing things from a different perspective. Gertrude's description of objects and expression of words is additional and does not follow the contemporary writing styles that strictly adhere to new grammar and available writing styles. The events of the 20th century also influenced the writing style of the author. Wanting to be different and bring a new form of writing to her book, she intended to open people's minds so that they could embrace futuristic thinking. Stein adopted the view of cubic artists, which had a perception that rejected commonality. In her description of objects through poetry, she describes a box in the most peculiar of ways that go far beyond its standard definition (Stein, 2017). It corresponds with the desire and thinking of cubic artists who wanted to represent their ideas in different ways that were diverse and different from shared ideas and representation. There is a direct correlation between the works of Gertrude and the views of cubic artists. Many see the work of Gertrude Stein as a dedication to Pablo Picasso, especially the volume Tender buttons.

The book Tender Buttons, an early work of Gertrude, is an experimentation of language, creating the relationship between the word and its view in the real world with the naked eye. An object visible has more than one dimension, and comments in a logically presented manner cannot fully describe the item in totality. Cubism involved the experimentation of a new way of presenting art. On many occasions, there was criticism of the works by people who could not comprehend what the skills meant or showcased. Like other revolutionists, Gertrude's works have also received a lot of criticism, with other critics calling her poems gibberish and equal measure marvelous, just as cubic artists' results received a lot of criticism. The controversy attached to her work, Tender Buttons, is similar to the wave of controversy that cubic art generated because they all deviate from common sense thoughts and require people to be more imaginative.

Gertrude Stein focuses her words on describing things meticulously. She forces the reader to understand the imagination of the mind and the contribution of the terms in the formation of the world as we know it. A look at the sentences (a combination of words and a lack of punctuation) reveals a deviation from the usual writing method. It immerses a reader into the world of the unknown. Even from the book's title, Tender buttons, it does share what Tender means in the book's context. The ordinary words' meaning suffers distortion as she presents the two words, Tender, and Buttons, in juxtaposition. The idea is to give familiar concepts differently though they are in association in the same sentence. The title of many a poem in her book uses the same style putting words in juxtaposition to generate another meaning for the comments. Though the names might be familiar to average readers, they unusually receive attention, attaching a different significance and perspective to the terms. The stories delivered in this manner lose meaning, do not challenge a reader, and are a paradox that requires powerful imagery to synthesize their meaning. She creates a mystery and an entry into an unfamiliar world for many people. Even though through the titles, there is little familiarity through known words. The writing complexity reflects the cubism style shrouding objects in unfamiliarity by hiding their understanding in plain sight.

An individual has to deviate from standard knowing to another knowing that shows the entirety of the representation of an object through powerful imagination. The portrayal of items by Stein is not of their traditional nature, as is known. Looking at an object can make someone see a detail that they had missed in the first place. Underwent acknowledgment by name, and a picture of it comes to mind. The importance of sight in Cubism is seen both in artistic drawings and the work of Gertrude Stein. The distortion of words and meaning portrays Stein as a cubist. The title and the texts show a complete reconfiguration of importance to the terms. The headers might seemingly be ushering a reader into a familiar world, but that is not the case in her book, Tender Buttons; the relationship with Cubism is clear to see.

The changes in the 20th century that fueled innovation in the art world also necessitated the representation of language in other forms that offered deeper meaning and not merely an expressed expression that suppressed the imagination to a picture of what the words elicited in mind. The works of art made by artists who used Cubism as a style are amusing, and a single look cannot guarantee that a person will see all the objects present in a work of art. The various poems in the book do not make much sense, and one can only read in amusement and disbelief at what the author is trying to communicate. There is the avoidance of the literal meaning of words, and in the book, the terms have no connection; each story has a distinct purpose. The stories are written by the author looking at objects and writing what comes to mind. How much a reader understands depends on their imagination. Cubic art does not represent objects in a form familiar to people. The lines and planes used to draw the objects represent more than a single item in the drawing. It is similar to Gertrude's poems because, without a powerful imagination, it is hard to fathom what the artists are trying to make you see.

The complexity of the words brings forth a relationship between the work and Cubism. As seen above, the complexity in terms and presentation bears similarity to Cubism. Her presentation of words breaks away from contemporary literary styles that deviate from the typical culture of scholarly writing. Her observation of Cezanne's work inspired her more as she saw how he created the relationship between the wholeness and part of an object by using light to show contrast. The use of lighting created a different perception of the same item from a discrete viewpoint. The similarity between Stein and Cézanne is clear to see with the portrayal of objects in words not easily understood. Still, if the reader has a powerful imagination, they might decipher what the writer is talking about (Mildenberg, 2017). An in-depth understanding of the book on whether it takes the form of Cubism is to look at the style of writing used by Gertrude Stein. In the book, there is no use of conventional writing styles with a defined syntax. Just as there is experimentation in Cubism, tender buttons have grammatical experiments where there is an emphasis on the role played by sound and rhythm in the short visualization of an object.