W. Stephen Croddy 
The Epistemology of Analytic Cubism 
I. Introduction 
Analytic Cubism was central to the development of twentieth century 
art. It consists of the paintings Picasso and Braque created between 1908 and 
1912. A principal influence of these works was the evolution in their style. 
Braque's »Viaduct at L'Estaque« of early 1908 commences the development. 
Picasso's »Majolie« of early 1912 exemplifies its most advanced stage. 
Contrasts between these two paintings illustrate five attributes toward 
which Picasso's and Braque's imagery evolved. They are: 
(1) A minimum degree of realism1 
(2) Shallow depth 
(3) Fragmented and flattened forms 
(4) Extensive passage 
(5) A reduced palette 
My purpose is to explain why the development of Analytic Cubism 
culminated in these particular features. This account will increase our un-
derstanding of what these influential paintings achieved. 
I will show that three components of Structural Linguistics can con-
tribute to this explanation and thereby to our understanding. Two are the 
concepts of »acceptability« and of an »environment« for a sign. Structural 
Linguistics investigates the environments for the signs of natural language. 
The third component is the certain manner in which this study develops. 
Several critics have proposed that Analytic Cubism is an investigation 
of the signs for representation.2 The above constituents of Structural Lin-
1 By »realism« I am speaking of the illusionistic depiction of the (supposed) visual 
appearance of one or more objects. 
2 Leo Steinberg interprets the paintings to be a »reflective analysis of «//known formal 
devices. The whole inventory of space and body-building devices is up for trial.« 
[Steinberg(78), p. 126, his emphasis.] Rosalind Krauss takes Picasso and Braque to 
be investigating the »structure of the sign«. [Krauss, p. 273.] Edward Fry interprets 
the works to be an analysis of the »grammar of representation«. [Fry, p. 96.] Christine 
Poggi describes Picasso's approach as »self-consciously structural«. [Poggi, p. 27.] 
William Rubin finds him to be »exploring sequentially the more remote implications 
of one evolving language«. [Rubin (89), p. 26.] In contrast to Rubin I am maintaining 
that it is the exploration of the language that evolves, not the language itself. 
Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 15-23 15 
W. Stephen Croddy 
guistics provide a more precise description of the type of analysis these com-
mentators suggest. 
I will show that specifically it is the environments of the signs that are 
being investigated. I will argue that the investigation being of this particu-
lar type accounts for the five features which characterize the culmination 
of Analytic Cubism's development. 
Furthermore, I will use Structural Linguistics' concept of »acceptabil-
ity« to establish that the progression of Analytic Cubism's investigation of 
the environments for the signs of representation is parallel to the progres-
sion of Structural Linguistics' investigation of the environments for the signs 
of natural language. This symmetry is part of the explanation of the five 
features. 
My account of Analytic Cubism's evolution is philosophically relevant not 
only for aesthetics but also for epistemology. The reason is that we employ signs 
of representation in our acquisition of knowledge through visual perception. 
Philosophy's analysis of this process requires a description of the signs' struc-
ture. Analytic Cubism's investigation of the signs' environments and thereby 
of their structure is a significant contribution to this description. 
II. Structural Linguistics' Procedure 
Structural Linguistics employs a procedure to arrive at an analysis of 
the structure of a natural language's signs. The procedure proceeds f rom 
the fact that a sign occurs as a member of an arrangement of elements. The 
environments for a sign are those arrangements containing it which the 
language's fluent speakers consider to be acceptable.3 The structure of a sign 
is a description of the types of environments for the sign. 
Two dimensions of die procedure reveal the manner in which the analysis 
of a sign's environments develops. The first is that the procedure is designed 
so that it is applicable to unknown languages. Consequently it begins its in-
vestigation with a certain type of environment. It is one which occurs frequently 
and thereby is easier to discern.4 Thus it has a higher degree of acceptability.5 
3 Chomsky (57), p. 49. Harris, p. 31. 
4 Nida(62), p. 177, #25. 
5 Chomsky notes »Obviously, acceptability will be a matter of degree, along various 
dimensions.« He adds »The more acceptable sentences are those that are more likely 
to be produced, more easily understood, less clumsy, and in some sense more natural.« 
[Chomsky (65) pp. 10 and 11] 
See Quine's »Progress on Two Fronts« and works referred to for a discussion of the 
investigation of unfamiliar languages from a philosophical point of view. 
16 
The Epistemology of Analytic Cubism 
The procedure ' s second dimension is that each sign can occur in an 
indefinitely large number of types of environments. The set of a sign's pos-
sible environments includes not only ones with a higher degree of accept-
ability, but also those with the lowest degree. In order for Structural Lin-
guistics' analysis to be adequate, it must provide for all of these types.0 Thus 
to insure the accuracy of the investigation, it is necessary that the proce-
dure be applied to a broad spectrum of kinds of environments.7 This re-
quires that it study those approximating the lowest degree of acceptabil-
ity. 
The progression of the investigation, therefore, takes a certain direc-
tion. As we have noted, it begins with more acceptable environments. Then 
in order to assure the accuracy of the structural analysis, it includes a wide 
diversity of types. This requires that it develop toward those environments 
which approach the limits of acceptability.8 Consequently, most environ-
ments considered during the advanced stage of the investigation approxi-
mate the lowest degree of acceptability. One of the principal questions, 
then, at this level of the analysis is what are the parameters of acceptabil-
ity. 
In summary, Structural Linguistics' investigation of environments is 
a certain type: It evolves f rom the more to the least acceptable. I will ar-
gue that Analytic Cubism's evolution is analogous. 
Two similarities are notable. One is that Analytic Cubism's investiga-
tion also includes environments which have a minimum degree of accept-
ability. The second is that it is this type of environment which occurs dur-
ing the investigation's most advanced stage, high Analytic Cubism.11 
III. Realism 
One reason the progressions of the two investigations are analogous 
is that, like Structural Linguistics, Picasso and Braque employed a crite-
6 Chomsky (65), p. 4 
7 Ibid. Nida (61), p. 145. 
8 Harris briefly describes how this might be accomplished, which would be during the 
latter stages of the investigation. See Harris, p. 1. 
9 A principal difference between the two investigations is that Structural Linguistics' 
includes a larger variety of highly acceptable environments. In contrast Analytic 
Cubism's focus, as I will discuss, is on environments with a minimum degree of 
acceptability. 
17 
W. Stephen Croddy 
r ion of acceptability.10 It was that a painting must to some extent be realis-
tic.11 
A painting comprises an arrangement of signs. Thus it can be viewed 
as an environment. Employing this concept from Structural Linguistics, then, 
we can interpret Picasso's and Braque 's requirement to have been that in 
order for a painting to be acceptable and thus constitute an environment, 
it is necessary that to some degree it be realistic. 
TV. Minimal Realism 
This is my thesis: The paintings of Analytic Cubism constitute an investiga-
tion of the environments of the signs for representation. 
We have seen that an investigation of environments progresses f rom the 
more acceptable to the least acceptable. Picasso and Braque equated accept-
ability with realism. Therefore, through the use of concepts from Structural 
Linguistics my thesis predicts that Analytic Cubism's deve lopment will 
progress f rom the more realistic to the least realistic.12 The paintings f rom 
1908 to 1912 demonstrate that this prediction is correct.13 Thus my thesis 
accounts for the first feature which culminated Analytic Cubism's evolution: 
A minimum degree of realism. 
I would like now to discuss the manner in which Picasso and Braque 
decreased depth in order to diminish realism. This compression of space 
10 In Semiotics of Visual Language, Fernande Saint-Martin provides an excellent discussion 
of the importance of this criterion for establishing the structure of the signs for 
representation. 
11 As Yve-Alain Bois points out, they never go as far as »total pictorial abstraction«. 
[Bois (92), p. 174] Similarly, Rubin maintains that »Representation is more than a 
commitment for Picasso, it is an obsession.« [Rubin(89), p. 24] Kahnweiler states 
»Les peintres cubistes étaient profondement conscients de la mission de l'art plastique 
qui est de créer - en fait, de recréer, cons tament - le monde ex te ' r i eur des 
hommes.«[Kahnweiler, p. 4] 
12 I take Bois to have this point in mind when he maintains that Braque and Picasso are 
»reflecting on the minimal conditions for the readability of pictorial signs«. [Bois(90), 
p. 82] 
13 For examples of paintings which exemplify this type of evolution consider Braque, 
»Viaduct at L'Estaque«, early 1908; Picasso, »Cottage and Trees«, 1908; Picasso, 
»Reservoir at Horta«, summer 1909; Braque, »Violin and Pitcher«, early 1910; Picasso, 
»Portrait of Ambroise Vollard«, 1910; Picasso, »Ma Jolie«, 1911/12; and Braque, »Le 
Portugais«, autumn 1911-early 1912. All are reproduced in Picasso and, Braque: 
Pioneering Cubism. 
See Hempel, pp. 365-376, for a discussion of the relationship between prediction 
and explanation. 
18 
The Epistemology of Analytic Cubism 
fragmented and flattened the forms. As a result, compositional unity became 
central for maintaining some degree of realism. The principal means by 
which this was achieved was through the use of both types of passage in con-
junct ion with a reduced palette. 
V. Decreasing Depth: Flatness and Fragmentation 
The perception of a three-dimensional space is the primary illusionistic 
component of a realistic image. Thus the reduction of depth was the princi-
pal method by which Picasso and Braque diminished realism. 
It occurred in two respects. One was a decrease in those portions of a 
figure which occupy depth. The other was a contraction of the space between 
the ground and the picture plane. Thus neither of these types of spatial re-
duction occurred laterally, i.e. either vertically or horizontally across the can-
vas. In fact, with the decrease in depth there was a corresponding increase in 
the significance of lateral space. We will see that this occurred with Picasso's 
and Braque's use of one of the types of passage. 
In order to appreciate the consequences of their reducing depth, let's 
consider their approach to realism at the beginning of Analytic Cubism. 
Braque's »Viaduct at L'Estaque« from early 1908 is an illustrative ex-
ample. Here surfaces are oblique to one another and to the viewer. Figures 
with a sense of amplitude are the result. This approach to the depiction of 
objects occurs within an inwardly extended space. The consequence is a 
moderate amount of illusionism. 
The investigation then moves toward a minimal degree of realism. The 
progression occurs by bringing the ground forward. This compresses the space 
between it and the picture plane. Nevertheless, the number of aspects is main-
tained. Thus the contraction in depth causes many of the forms to f ragment 
and flattened to a position approximately parallel with the canvas' surface. 
During the reduction, most curved shapes became linear. This accounts 
for the considerable angularity in high Analytic Cubism, the culminating stage. 
Picasso's »Ma Jolie« from this period exemplifies the resulting type of imag-
ery with its extensive planarity. 
VI. Composition Unity 
I have been considering Picasso's and Braque's manner of significantly 
reducing depth with its resulting flatness and fragmentation. This interpre-
19 
W. Stephen Croddy 
tation accounts for these salient features of the type of minimum degree of 
realism found in works during the advanced stage of the investigation, e.g. 
Braque's »Le Portugais«, Picasso's »Man with a Violin«, and »Majolie«. 
During the progression towards this culminating phase, fragmentation 
threatened to compromise composition unity and thus realism. Therefore 
methods for preserving structural coherence became of prime importance. 
The following analysis of some of Picasso's and Braque's techniques reveals 
fur ther aspects of the investigation's evolution. 
Their methods employed versions of the signs for representation. As 
discussed in the preceding section, in the shallow space of high Analytic 
Cubism these signs typically occurred as arrangements of angular segments 
of shading. 
Two of Picasso's and Braque's techniques for maintaining composi-
tional unity involving these signs employed both types of passage. O n e type 
integrates the over-all image internally. The other unifies it laterally.14 Fur-
thermore, achieving both of these kinds of integration motivated the par-
ticular hues Picasso and Braque selected and the manner in which they 
employed them. Thus the use of passage is a reason for the reduction in 
palette. 
One of Picasso and Braque's techniques is applied to interior space. It 
employs a limited range of moderate hues in representing the principal 
figure (s). This consistent subdued tonality is presented against a ground of 
a similar value. Picasso and Braque then employ these diminished shades 
to integrate their imagery inwardly. The result is one of the types of passage. 
As »Le Portugais« illustrates, their method of achieving this kind is to 
allow intermittently the shade of the ground to show through the figure's 
image. Similarly, periodically the hue of one plane in the shallow depth 
occurs on another. Their employing moderate tones in conjunction with this 
technique enables them to create a subtle modulation that contributes to 
two types of partial unification: 1) of forms on different planes, and 2) of 
forms with the ground. 
Picasso's and Braque's second type of passage employs modelling. It 
i nco rpora t e s the i r r e d u c e d pa le t te as well. Its p u r p o s e is to con jo in 
continguous forms. 
They accomplish this lateral linkage by subtly gradating the shade in-
side the forms. This decreases their delineation. In addition, their contours 
are drawn as incomplete allowing them to open onto one another. Picasso's 
»Portrait of Ambroise Vollard« demonstrates how the resulting elision en-
14 For an insightful analysis of passage and its significance, see the discussions in 
Steinberg(79)and Rubin (79). 
20 
The Epistemology of Analytic Cubism 
ables the close-value gradation to progress f rom one form to the next. This 
creates a continuous flow of light and space that links the forms together.15 
Note that this kind of passage is neither a horizontal nor a vertical com-
pression of the forms. Hence it does not reduce lateral space. On the other 
hand, the passage that integrates forms and the ground inwardly creates a 
more shallow depth. 
This consequence of interior integration brings out a paradox of high 
Analytic Cubism. It is that this type of passage simultaneously both increases 
and decreases the degree of realism. Its contribution to compositional unity 
increases realism. Whereas its reduction of depth decreases it. This paradox 
is a source of the tension found in the paintings.10' 
Reconsider the two kinds of passage, which achieve both types of inte-
gration: lateral linkage and modulat ion between planes. The preceding 
discussion demonstrates that they require a minimum variation in subdued 
shades. Thus the principal formal procedures Picasso and Braque employed 
to achieve structural unity are one part of the explanation of their use of a 
reduced palette. The other is that the employment throughout the canvas 
of a restricted spectrum of neutral hues contributed fur ther to this coher-
17 
ency.1' 
VII. Conclusion 
I have given an analysis of the methods by which Picasso and Braque 
employed both types of passage in conjunction with diminished hues. Their 
purpose, I proposed, was to maintain structural unity and thereby preserve 
a degree of realism. I argued for an account of why Analytic Cubism's evo-
lution resulted in extensive passage and a reduced palette as well as a con-
siderable reduct ion in depth with the resulting f lat tened and f rac tured 
forms. Employing concepts f rom Structural Linguistics, the explanation of 
these particular features is that the paintings constitute an investigation of 
the environments of the signs for representation. The features are the con-
15 »The handling of space, of light, and the linkage of planes are...central to a definition 
of Cubism.« Rubin (77), p. 180. The effectiveness of Picasso's and Braque's techniques 
in achieving the second type of passage is brought out be contrasting them with the 
process by which contours are formed in visual perception. Cf. Osgood, chapter 6. 
lr' »the dramatic tension of...high Analytic Cubism«. Rubin(89), p. 24. 
17 Additional contributions include the rhythmic distribution of light and dark across 
the canvas and the use of only one subject which is presented iconically, i.e. it is 
frontal, vertically centralized, and anchored to the base of the canvas. Simplified 
themes contributed to the unity of the content. 
21 
W. Stephen Croddy 
sequence of this investigation's evolution toward a minimum degree of re-
alism. 
Two results of my explanation are philosophically relevant. One is that 
it increases our aesthetic understanding of what the paintings accomplish. 
The other is that it shows that Picasso's and Braque's investigation of the 
e n v i r o n m e n t s of the signs for r e p r e s e n t a t i o n can c o n t r i b u t e to t he 
espistemological analysis of the process by which we acquire knowledge 
through visual perception. 
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22 
The Epistemology of Analytic Cubism 
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