Georges Braque

Add to favorites

Currently not on show

Georges Braque

Femme lisant, 1911

Woman Reading
Oil on canvas, 130 x 81 cm
Photo: Peter Schibli, Basel

Add to favorites

Currently not on show

Georges Braque

Verre, bouteille et journal, 1912

Glass, Bottle and Journal
Charcoal and faux-bois wallpaper on paper, 48 x 62 cm
Photo: Robert Bayer, Basel

Braque’s collage from 1912 shows a further development of Cubism. Introduced by Braque, this revolutionary technique paved the way for the later phase of ‘Synthetic’ Cubism. Here, the key elements of painting – planes (as colour) and lines – are separated from one another in a playful manner. Colour is stuck on, line or shading is drawn in charcoal. The glued-on imitation wood wallpaper is an ‘authentic’ illusion, as it were, hence a witty response to the call for more realism in art.

1882, Argenteuil-sur-Seine – 1963, Paris

Trained as a decorator, Braque is considered one of the leading painters of French modernism and twentieth-century art. In around 1906, inspired by the work of the Fauves, he initially adopted their style of painting but later evolved away from their influence – partly due to the strong impression made on him by the Cézanne retrospective in 1907, but also to the experience of having seen the Demoiselles d’Avignon in Picasso’s studio. Braque’s first solo exhibition in 1909 in the gallery of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler can also be regarded as the beginning of the “analytic phase” of Cubism. His growing friendship with Picasso in this period intensified their shared artistic intentions, which culminated in 1912 in the phase of Synthetic Cubism.