Georges Braque

Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York
William March, New York
Perls Galleries, New York
Galerie Katia Granoff, Paris
Sale : Champin, Lombrail & Gautier, Enghien, 21 November 1991, lot 11
Private Collection, Switzerland
Galerie Cazeau-Béraudière, Paris
Private Collection (acquired from the above on 3 March 2004)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in July 2009

New York, Perls Galleries, The William March Collection of Modern French Masterpieces, 1954, no. 5 

Nicole Worms de Romilly, Catalogue de l'œuvre de Georges Braque, Paris, 1973, vol. 4 : peintures 1936-1941, illustrated p. 9

The canvas is not lined and the colours are fresh. There is some craquelure to the impasto in the upper right quadrant but no evidence of retouching under UV light. This work is in very good original condition.
"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."

Painted in 1936, Nature morte aux cerises shows Georges Braque’s constant fascination for still-lifes, dating from his Cubist period. In the 1930s, Braque produced a succession of extremely decorative still-lifes through which he continued his formal and pictorial exploration. The same objects often reappear, pedestal tables, tablecloths, fruit bowls, jugs, as we can see from another composition painted the same year, today housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In these compositions, the decorative imagination of Braque achieves its zenith. Borrowing compositional methods from Cubism which he developed with Picasso, he adds another dimension by choosing shimmering and refined colours.

The selection and processing of objects is far from arbitrary and is the result of aesthetic research into the balance between space and objects that make up the still life. Braque explained this process in an interview with Georges Charbonnier on France-Culture: "(people) seem to totally ignore that what is between the apple and plate is painted too (...). This in-between seems to me just as important as the object itself.  It is precisely the relation of these objects between themselves and between the object and this in-between which constitutes the subject" (quoted in Fondation Maeght, Georges Braque, 1994 , p.174 ). In Nature morte aux cerises  Braque juxtaposes light and dark tones to distinguish the objects of the still-life from the tablecloth, wallpaper and curtains. The wood effect used for the table recalls the papier collé technique developed by Braque and Picasso during their famous collaboration.

The still-lifes of the thirties are an essential milestone in Braque’s work. Still loyal to the Cubist aesthetic, they nevertheless introduce new dimensions of volume, ornamental treatment, dynamic black and white elements and especially colour, but without weakening the cohesion of the image. Midway between Cubism and the temptation of metamorphosis, using breakaway forms and free arabesque motifs, Nature morte aux cerises showcases this fascination for interior objects, a continued aesthetic research that would lead to the famous Ateliers series that Braque developed a few years later.