THE Cubists, who painted almost 100 years ago, and Masterworks, the collectors of Bermuda art on behalf of the community, both want to change the way people see things. In short, the Cubists wanted to shock us into seeing differently, but Masterworks just wants us to see.

With 1,000 Bermuda-related paintings now under its control, Masterworks is expanding into the Arrowroot Factory at Camden, behind the Premier's official residence. Among the paintings it will exhibit there are now four visions by Cubist Albert Gleizes. The most recent addition to the collection, an oil painting on board (pictured left), is one of a series of six visions of Government House painted by Gleizes in 1916 or 1917.

Cubism was an influential modern art style, non-representational, created by Picasso and Braque in Paris between 1907 and about 1914. Until 1912, in the "analytical" period, Cubist paintings represented subject matter in the pictorial form of an elaborately-faceted surface. After 1912, in the "synthetic" period, Cubists also stuck objects to their canvases, instead of representing them, stressing colour, texture and construction.

Gleizes was mustered out of the French army in 1915 or 1916, and then married. He and his wife Juliette spent their honeymoon initially in New York City. There, he may have heard from Alfred Stieglitz, artist Georgia O'Keeffe's husband, that Charles Demuth had been to Bermuda and reported positively on the experience. The Gleizes decided to extend their honeymoon to Bermuda.

While here, Gleizes painted his wife, probably in St. George's, in the Cubist manner, and Masterworks has the portrait in its collection. In the winter of 1916/17, he also painted, in various media, a series of six images of Government House, Maison du Gouverneur, in a manner that may not have pleased the Governor of the day, who might have agreed with the adage that "art is what makes you feel uncomfortable".

The two images from the series that Masterworks already had in its collection were a watercolour and a gouache, which is an egg tempura watercolour. Others in the series were oil paint on paper (an unusual approach), a watercolour/gouache and, finally a crayon and watercolour image.

"Each time he set out to paint the scene in front of him, Gleizes reinterpreted the view, keeping the turrets of Government House and the house in front of it (in his line of vision) as central tenets," said Masterworks director Tom Butterfield.

Many years ago, he recalled, Masterworks held a show at City Hall on the porch on the west side of the building, which has now been replaced.

"I looked at Government House from there and saw that Gleizes had done his work from almost exactly where I was standing. Of course, he had been at the Hamilton Hotel at the time, not its successor, City Hall."

Assistant Masterworks director Elise Outerbridge explained that Cubists broke down perspective to shock and deconstruct what they saw before them, in a conscious break from the representational art that had gone before.

"Cubism was influenced by African art," she explained. "They were also influenced by architecture. The angularity and proportions appealed to their non-human senses."

The three Gleizes images of Government House and the portrait of his wife will be among the stars of the new Masterworks galleries at the Arrowroot Factory. The facility is expected to be completed in a couple of years.

"Art is not just about being made aware that it exists, but experiencing it in person," said Mr. Butterfield. "So, too, a museum is more than merely a physical space to house pictures. It must be a place of discovery, reflection, inspiration and fun."

The new Centre for Bermuda Art will include a learning centre, which will invite everyone to participate in workshops, lectures, symposia and other programmes. A library and several galleries are envisioned.

"The new Centre is a wonderful opportunity for us to create one of the world's great small museums for everyone in Bermuda," Mr. Butterfield said. "It will be an educational facility for young and old, and a place that celebrates Bermuda through the eyes of the artists inspired by it. We often speak of Bermuda's cultural heritage; the new Centre will be a focal point precisely for that heritage. We are excited beyond words."

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