Georges Braque
06.13.2014 - 09.21.2014
Georges Braque (1882−1963) is one of the 20th century’s major artists. A painter, sculptor, and engraver he played the lead part in two essential chapters in the history of modern art: the creation, with Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris, of Cubism, and the invention of collage thanks to his experiments with papiers collés (“pasted papers”). He later focused his work on the methodological exploration of still life and landscape painting. Braque became the modern French painter par excellence, heir to classical tradition and representative of the avant-garde, precursor of post-war abstraction. This major retrospective of his work, organized to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his death, covers all periods of his career, from his fauve years—he exhibited with the young fauve artists at the 1907 Salon des Indépendants—until his last series dedicated to the artista studios and birds, with specific emphasis on the most outsanding periods of his work, such as Cubism, his Canephore paintings of the 1920s or his last landscapes, so greatly admired by Nicolas de Staël
Thanks to the extraordinary loans from the Centre Georges Pompidou and other important international collections, the exhibition brings together some 250 pieces, among which are great masterpieces and documentary materials that throw light on other aspects of his activity, such his collaboration with Pablo Picasso, the resonance between his art and music (where his close friendship with Erik Satie stands out), his affinity with poets including Pierre Reverdy, Francis Ponge, and René Char and important intellectuals of his time such as Carl Einstein and Jean Paulhan. This exhibition places the work of the grand master of Cubism, Georges Braque, in the place he deserves in the history of art and offers visitors the possibility to rediscover a demanding, inquisitive, and intelligent work.
Georges Braque
Still Life with Red Tablecloth, 1934
Oil on canvas
81 x 101 cm
Private collection
Georges Braque © VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © Leiris SAS Paris
The Exhibition
Georges Braque
Landscape in L’Estaque (Paysage de l’Estaque), 1906–1907
Oil on canvas
50 x 61 cm
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris. Gift, 1986
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © Philippe Migeat - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Dist. RMN-GP
Georges Braque
Viaduct in L’Estaque (Le Viaduc de l’Estaque), early 1908
Oil on canvas
72.5 x 59 cm
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris Gift, 1984
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photograph © Georges Meguerditchian - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Dist. RMN-GP
Georges Braque
Piano and Mandola (Piano et mandore), winter 1909–1910
Oil on canvas
91.7 x 42.8 cm
The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York 54.1411
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © Solomon R Guggenheim Museum
Georges Braque
Guitar (La Guitare), 1912
Charcoal, wood print paper glued on paper
70,2 x 60,7 cm
Private collection
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © Laurens / Leiris SAS Paris
Georges Braque
Guitar and Glass (Guitare et verre), 1917
Oil on canvas, 60.1 x 91.5 cm
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photograph © Coll. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
Georges Braque
Fruits on Tablecloth and Fruit Dish (Fruits sur une nappe et compotier), 1925
Oil on canvas
130.5 x 75 cm
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris.
Purchased from the artist, 1947
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photograph © Bertrand Prévost - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Dist. RMN-GP
Georges Braque
Canephores (Canéphores), 1922
Oil on canvas
180,5 x 73 cm each
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris
Bequest Baronne Eva Gourgaud, 1965
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © Bertrand Prévost - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Dist. RMN-GP
Georges Braque
Woman with a Palette (Femme à la palette), 1936
Oil on canvas
92.1 x 92.2 cm
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon. Bequest Jacqueline Delubac, 1997
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © RMN-Grand Palais / René-Gabriel Ojéda / Thierry Le Mage
Georges Braque
Black Fish (Les Poissons noirs), 1942
Oil on canvas, 33 x 55 cm
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris. Gift the artist, 1947
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © Philippe Migeat - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Dist. RMN-GP
Georges Braque
Billiard (Le Billard), 1944
Oil and sand on canvas, 130,5 x 195,5 cm
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris, Purchased in 1946
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © MNAM - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Dist. RMN-GP
Georges Braque
Taller IX (Atelier IX), 1952-1956
Oil on canvas
146 x 146 cm
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, París
Dación, 1982
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © Bertrand Prévost - Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Dist. RMN-GP
Georges Braque
Black Bird and White Bird (L’Oiseau noir et l’oiseau blanc), 1960
Oil on canvas, 134 x 167.5 cm
Private collection
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © Laurens / Leiris SAS Paris
Georges Braque
Colza Fields (Les Champs de colza), 1956-1957
Oil on canvas, 37 x 81.5 cm (with frame, painted by the artist)
Private collection
Georges Braque © VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © Laurens / Leiris SAS Paris
Georges Braque
Model for the ballet «Les Fâcheux» (La maquette du ballet «Les Fâcheux»), 1923
Gouache on cardboard
43,9 x 51 x 10,1 cm
Private collection
© Georges Braque, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2014
Photo © Laurens / Leiris SAS Paris
Artist
Georges Braque
Brooklyn, Nueva York, 1960