Cubism and Relativity

Abstract

In 1945, in an essay which I then called Cubism and the Theory of Relativity, I elaborated the notion that there are certain analogies between these otherwise highly divergent manifestations of contemporary culture. In both, the old mode of paying attention to body or mass while taking the manner of observation for granted, was abandoned. Instead, attention was paid to relationships, and allowance was made for the simultaneity of several views. The consequence of this new approach was, respectively, a seeming “distortion” or dissolution of bodies in painting, and the famous convertibility of mass and energy in the Theory of Relativity. From a metaphysical point of view, space and time were no longer considered as absolutes, as in Newtonian physics. Rather, they were considered as interdependent, just as they actually are in our commonsense experience. Space and time formed a space-time continuum which, in turn, was but a form of human experience. In painting, the symbol for this space-time continuum was t...