The Birthday of Pablo Picasso (1881) – The Mathematics of Cubism

Picasso’s Cubism broke objects into geometric shapes, viewing them from multiple angles simultaneously. This is like a mathematical projection: a 3D object can be represented by its 2D projections (perspective drawings). Cubism also relates to non‑Euclidean geometry and the concept of ‘simultaneity’ (relativity). Picasso said, ‘Mathematics is the alphabet with which God wrote the universe.’ He was not a mathematician, but his art reflected a mathematical way of seeing. Art and mathematics both abstract reality to reveal structure.