Georges Braque

M.P. Beglarian, Paris
Private Collection, Japan
Sale: Christie's, New York, May 14, 1999, lot 688
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Marugame, Marugame Genichiro Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art; Kagoshima, Kagoshima City Museum of Art; Tokyo, The Bunkamura Museum of Art & Mie, Mie Prefectural Art Museum, Rétrospective Georges Braque, 1998, no. 53, illustrated in color in the catalogue
New York, Sotheby's, Georges Braque Paintings: 1920-1960, 2013, no. 12, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Jean Paulhan, "Braque ou le sens cache" in Cahiers d'Art, 1940-44, illustrated p. 90
Maeght Éditeur, ed., Catalogue de l'oeuvre de Georges Braque, Peintures 1936-1941, Paris, 1961, illustrated pl. 95

The work is in excellent condition. The canvas is not lined. The canvas is slightly loose and undulating, mostly in the lower half. Under UV light, no inpainting is apparent.
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.

The still life was a theme to which Braque returned consistently throughout his long and productive career. In every phase, beginning with the Fauve period and culminating in the majestic interiors of his last years, Braque found the arrangement of a limited number of objects on a table-top or in an interior to be the most appropriate subject for his investigations of the formal and tactile qualities of painting. In the decades following the invention of Cubism, Braque continued to refine and re-examine the expressive possibilities of his still lifes, always creating innovative ways to represent common objects.   

Balance et poisson epitomizes the "transparent" aesthetic that defined Braque's work in the 1930s. Elements of the composition overlap with varying degrees of transparency, creating an illusion of recession and depth. The dimensionality of the picture is further enhanced by Braque's choice of color; he limits his palette in a manner that focuses the eye on the yellow of the scales at the center of the panel. Still lifes feature prominently in Braque's and Picasso's early Synthetic works and were a link with high Baroque still lifes, such as those painted by Caravaggio. Braque's historical appropriations and experiments with formal transparency would have a profound effect on the work of his fellow painters, most notably in Picasso's still lifes painted in the 1920s and 30s.