Analytical Cubism - Oxford Definition

A term used to describe the first phase (1909–11) of the mature Cubism of Picasso and Braque. During this period of cerebral analysis and near-abstraction in their paintings they visually took objects apart and then reassembled them on the canvas in a different order, using a very shallow projection of space and a minimum of colour. Typical examples are Braque's The Portuguese (Kunstmuseum, Basel) and Picasso's The Accordionist (Guggenheim Museum, New York), both of 1911.