GEORGES BRAQUE | Corbeille de fleurs

M.P. Beglarian, Paris (acquired in 1925)
Vicomte & Vicomtesse Charles de Noailles, Paris 
Private Collection, Paris
Acquired circa 1990-91

Paris, Galerie Charpentier & Cologne, Dom Galerie Köln, Chefs-d’oeuvres de collections, 1962, no. 14 (titled Anémones)
Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Les Jardins et les fleurs, 1965, no. 16, illustrated in the catalogue (titled Anémones)
Paris, L'Orangerie des Tuileries, Georges Braque, 1973-74, no. 73, illustrated in the catalogue

Carl Einstein, Die Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts, Berlin, 1926, n.p.
George Isarlov, Catalogue des oeuvres de Georges Braque, Paris, 1932, no. 316, n.p.
L'Oeil, Paris, 1958, no. 39, illustrated p. 67
Stanislas Fumet, Georges Braque, Paris, 1965, illustrated in color p. 85
Galerie Maeght, ed., Catalogue de l'oeuvre de Georges Braque, Peintures 1924-1927, Paris, 1968, illustrated p. 34 & in color n.p.
Raymond Cogniat, Braque, Paris, 1970, illustrated p. 29
Francis Ponge, Pierre Descargues & André Malraux, G. Braque, Paris, 1971, illustrated p. 141
Marco Valsecchi & Massimo Carrà, L’Opera completa di Braque, 1908-1929, Milan, 1971, illustrated fig. 247
Edwin Mullins, Braque, London, 1988, illustrated in color pl. 66

The work is in very good condition. The panel is sound. The surface is richly textured. Under UV inspection, there are a few pindot strokes of inpainting in the bottom half of the left edge, in the left half of the top edge, and in the white pigments along the bottom edge. There are also several pindot strokes of very old restoration in the upper right corner.
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 Cubism 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. The anemones found in the present work were especially conducive to his exploration of textures and space. Henry Hope explains that “a low key and dense quality is found in the flower paintings of the twenties... At that time, he nearly always used anemones, probably because their variety of color and simple shape suited his pictorial needs...the flowers, foliage and basket are painted in the closest harmony. Braque reduces the bright color of the flowers to dull pink and violet so that nothing will be out of place” (Henry Hope, Georges Braque, New York, 1949, pp. 100-02).

As early as 1912, Braque brought what he termed “materiality” to his work by transforming the texture of his paint as 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).