Georges Braque

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris (no. 15881, Ph no. 1686)
Acquired by the present owner in the 1960s

Pierre Reverdy, Une aventure méthodique, Paris, 1949, illustrated pl. V
Maeght Editeur, Catalogue de l'oeuvre de Georges Braque. Peintures 1942-1947, Paris, 1960, no. 83, illustrated n.n.

Paper is laid down on canvas. There are some frame rubbing to the right part of the lower edge. The canvas is undulating. There are some spots of foxing where the sheet is visible along the upped edge. There are some studio marks in places. There are areas of well preserved impasto. This work is in overall good condition.
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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."

“Has no one ever told you that Braque’s paintings drag, like fishing nets, across the sand beds of the sea? However, if the fabric of the canvas to be painted is too thin to be authorized for this kind of fishing, the spirit of this poet and painter is like an immense trawling net tirelessly stretched from the earth to the sky and with strong enough links to capture and hold the truest, most moving images capable of illuminating the heart of man with their supernatural shine. An immense net, with large links, stretched night and day from the rocky depths of the earth to the glittering blades at the surface of the most luminous of skies.”
Pierre Reverdy, Braque, une aventure méthodique,
Paris, 1949

When war broke out, Braque sought refuge in Varengville-sur-Mer, converted in the 1930s into an important colony of artists, and where Braque had the North American architect Paul Nelson build a studio for him. Fish were one of the artist’s recurring motifs during the war period. In echo of the artist’s anxieties, the fish were black in the years 1941 and 1942, as for example Les Poissons noirs, 1942, kept in the Musée National d’art Moderne – Centre Pompidou or La carafe et les poissons, painted in 1941 and dedicated to Jean Paulhan. The latter described this series: “The fish makes me think deeply about this mixture of extreme violence and serenity which is however yours.” These paintings are thus characterized by a thoughtful austerity. Towards the end of the conflict, the colors become more joyful, the brushwork lighter, the backgrounds more translucent, as is the case in the present painting.