Isolation, in its various forms and corollaries, has almost turned into a topic discussed as frequently as the weather to a Londoner. On one of my rainy self-isolation days, as I sit on outhouse rocker with a brewing cuppa, I could not help but spare a thought about Van Gogh. Did he rejoice or regret is isolation of 53 weeks in the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole? Although his art flourished, he slipped away to loneliness before shooting himself. Perhaps, the secret potion is in striking the right balance; Be lonely, but not alone. “If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company”.

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Cubism, the art form that laid the foundation to modern art, with its deconstructed blocks and lack of pattern has always been a less understood form of art. Whenever I have talked about cubism to people, I have realized their confusion, bordering into apathy, for the art form. Its, however, perhaps so easy to understand if we see it as a “point of departure” from an otherwise realistic painting. And following Paul Cezanne’s works also helps us understand how the fractured forms of cubism flows smoothly from conventional ideas of realism. No wonder Picasso and Braque called him “the father of us all”.

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