Lot 412
  • 412

Georges Braque

Estimate
450,000 - 550,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Georges Braque
  • Corbeille de fleurs
  • Signed G. Braque and dated 25 (lower right)
  • Oil and sand on canvas
  • 15 by 21 3/4 in.
  • 38.1 by 55.2 cm

Provenance

Knoedler & Co., Paris
Private Collection, Paris (and sold: Sotheby's, London, June 30, 1976, lot 43)
Achim Moeller, Ltd., London
East Coast Educational Institution (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 9, 1995, lot 91)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Literature

George Isarlov, Catalogue des oeuvres de Georges Braque, Paris, 1932, no. 369
Maeght Editeur, Catalogue de l'oeuvre de Georges Braque: Peintures 1924-1927, Paris, 1968, illustrated p. 64
Massimo Carrà, L'Opera Completa di Braque dalla Composizione Cubista al Recupero dell'Oggetto 1980-1929, Milan, 1971, no. 252, illustrated p. 98

Condition

Original canvas. Under UV light there is no evidence of in-painting. The work is in very good 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

From his earliest experimentations with Cubism and then onward throughout his career, Braque returned again and again to the still life. He used the arrangement of a limited number of objects on a table-top as a means to investigate the formal and tactile qualities of painting. The present work is from the period of Braque’s career when his still-lifes became, as described by the author and curator John Golding, “more naturalistic, more accessible,” undoubtedly “among the most…enjoyed of all Braque’s still lives” (John Golding, Braque Still Lifes and Interiors, London, 1990, p. 5).

As early as 1912, Braque brought what he termed “materiality” to his work by transforming the texture of his paint. He incorporated different tactile elements such as sawdust, iron shavings and sand, as incorporated in the present work. The artist himself later stated, “what I liked a lot was indeed that ‘materiality’ yielded by different material that I kept bringing into my paintings. In fact it was for me, a means of being further and further away from the idealistic painting…and closer to the sort of representation of things that I was looking for” (quoted in Karen Wilkin, Modern Masters: Georges Braque, New York, 1991, pp. 65-66).