Georges Braque

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
Private Collection, Paris (acquired circa 1990; sale: Christie's, New York, 10th May 2007, lot 358)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Bordeaux, Galerie des Beaux-Arts & Strasbourg, Musée d'Art Moderne, Braque en Europe: Centenaire de la naissance de Georges Braque (1882-1963), 1982, no. 57, illustrated in the catalogue

Galerie Maeght (ed.), Catalogue de l'œuvre de Georges Braque: Peintures 1936-1941, Paris, 1961, illustrated p. 80

The canvas is not lined. There is a 1cm. sq. area of retouching to the left of the upper edge with four associated nailhead-sized spots of retouching. There is a 5cm. long line of intermittent spots of retouching to the top of the left edge and a 2cm. line of retouching to the lower centre of the left edge. There are a few nailhead-sized spots of retouching at intervals to the right edge, possibly to cover frame rubbing. There are two nailhead-sized spots of retouching to the top edge at either side of the central mustard yellow column. All retouching is visible under UV light. Apart from a 0.5cm. sq. area of retouching to the base of the same column and two further spots of fluorescence to the left of the glass, possibly retouching, this work is in good condition. Colours: The colours are more subtle and the red is less pronounced in the original.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Throughout his career Braque continued to experiment with the pictorial language of Cubism, focusing primarily on the still-life. The works of his later period are characterised by a more restrained approach to Cubist forms, in line with the revival of interest in Neo-Classicism and what Jean Cocteau referred to as le rappel à l'ordre across French society. Many of the works are smaller in size and black becomes a dominant element of the artist's palette, as in this work. The return to order in terms of Braque's work resulted in a focus on the French tradition of still-life painting, with Chardin, Corot and Manet providing his sources of inspiration, resulting in more naturalistic and accessible works. However, the rendering of a tactile sense of space is still Braque's pre-eminent artistic concern, even in these later works: 'There is in nature a tactile space, I might almost say a manual space... This is the the space that fascinates me so much, because that is what early Cubist painting was, a research into space' (Braque quoted in John Golding, Braque, Still Lifes and Interiors, London, 1990, p. 9).