Five Pieces of Great Art From Georges Braque
Braque is known for his contribution to Fauvism and Cubism
Introduction:
Georges Braque was a major 20-th century French artist known for his role in Fauvism, as well as co-founding Cubism with fellow artist Pablo Picasso. Braque sincerely believed that the art of painting had to move beyond the descriptions of visual reality. Furthermore, he rejected naturalistic depictions, preferring abstract compositions of shapes and forms to represent the world. Braque’s distinctive monochromatic and neutral color palette in his Cubist years was based on the belief that colors would distinguish the subject matter. By the time of his death in 1963, Braque was regarded as one of the most celebrated artists of the School of Paris, as well as of modern art.
Here is a quick summary of the central principles of Cubism by French writer Guillaume Apollinaire:
“Authentic cubism is the art of depicting new wholes with formal elements borrowed not from the reality of vision, but from that of conception. This tendency leads to a poetic kind of painting which stands outside the world of observation; for, even in a simple cubism, the geometrical surfaces of an object must be opened out in order to give a complete representation of it.”
For the rest of the article, we will explore five of Braque’s most representative works.
Art Piece #1 L’Olivier près de l’Estaque (The Olive tree near l’Estaque) (1906)
Here is a painting by Braque during his Fauvism years, which came before Cubism. Most of Braque’s Fauvist works were paintings of landscapes and cityscapes, which captured countryside and rural towns.
Art Piece #2 Houses at l’Estaque (1908)
Houses at l’Estaque is an early Cubist painting consisting of Cezannian trees and houses. This work laid the foundation for Cubism, and is exemplified by the muted color palettes as well as the geometric forms.
Art Piece #3 Violin and Candlestick (1910)
Violin and Candlestick exemplifies the dynamic qualities of Analytic Cubism. Braque is depicting a three-dimensional object on a canvas in a way that deviates from traditional art. Violin and Candlestick is a great example of Braque’s innovative nature with form and stability, in that a traditional still life is brilliantly transformed into something more dynamic and lively.
Art Piece #4 The Portuguese (1911)
The Portuguese exemplifies Analytic Cubism in that Braque concentrated on dissecting form and playing with the dynamism of space on the canvas. The subdued hues of brown tones are carefully chosen here so that the viewers focus on the form. The subject is a Portuguese musician whom Braque recalled seeing in Marseilles.
Art Piece #5 Man with a Guitar (1912)
Similar to the other Cubist works by Braque covered in this article, Braque abandoned traditional perspective and created a convincing illusion of space in Man with a Guitar. The subject in the painting is broken down into geometrical components as Braque paired a lifelike rendering of a nail and rope with a rendering of a man playing a guitar.
“When objects shattered into fragments appeared in my painting about 1909, this for me was a way of getting closest to the object… Fragmentation helped me to establish space and movement in space. (Georges Braque)”
Sources:
Gardner, H., & Kleiner, F. S. (2016). Gardner’s Art through the ages: A global history (Fifteenth edition, Student edition. ed.). Cengage Learning.
Braque, The Portuguese (article) | Cubism | Khan Academy
Violin and Candlestick, 1910 by Georges Braque
MoMA | Georges Braque. Man with a Guitar. Céret, summer 1911–early 1912
