• Archives of design research
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• v.18 no.3 s.61
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• pp.117-128
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• 2005

The French Belle Epoque is a period where the literary and artistic movement was very activated. The birth of the cubism reflects this atmosphere of the times and the change of paradigm in all fields. The Bergsonism is often designated as one of the important backgrounds of cubism. The problem consists in knowing if Bergsonian ideas gave real influence on the cubist movement and up to what point. Our analysis will show that it is not homogenous and very variable according to painters. In the case of Picasso and Braques it seems be a simple inspiration of Zeitgeist. But the influence upon Metzinger and Gleizes is explicit. The text of 1912, Du cubism, prove their attachment to his thought. The key concept of cubist theory, influenced by Bergsonian philosophy, is the concept of simultaneity. Cubist simultaneity is in one hand a reflection of an artist's psychological experience and the other hand a synthesis of multiple views for grasping the object in itself by the way of conceptual representation. The temporal simultaneity could be identified with the notion of memory, which is a temporal continuity connecting the past to dynamic present. The spatial simultaneity is a juxtaposition of multiple views obtained by the movement around the object. But the dose reading of Bergson's text shows that there is a divergence between the notion of cubist simultaneity and his ideas. The biased interpretation is often, as well as the strict understanding, like the history shows us well, a great source of inspiration and creativity. The cubist mouvement is not far from this case.