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Email to FriendSigned Georges Braque, Etching, Poissons (Fish)  |
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| Artist: | Braque, Georges (1882 - 1963), After |
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| Title: | Poissons (Fish) |
| Medium: | Color Etching |
| Image Size: | 18 in x 13 1/2 in (45 cm x 34.5 cm) |
| Framed Size: | 38 3/4 in x 34 in (98.4 cm x 86.4 cm) |
| Signed: | This work is hand-signed by Georges Braque (Argenteuil-sur-Seine, 1882- Paris, 1963) in pencil in the lower right margin. |
| Edition: | Numbered from the edition of 300 in pencil in the lower left margin; printed on BFK Rives Block watermarked paper. |
| Condition: | This work is in excellent condition, with bold, vibrant colors. |
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Gallery Price
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Item# 3049
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| MFA SALE | 50% Off: $6,000 |
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Addressing an often lesser acknowledged subject, Braque gives life to the fish that we buy at the store and put on our plates. Using bold lines and strong tonal contrasts, Braque offers us a platter of fish for visual consumption. |
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Gallery Price: This is a common gallery retail price Read more about our pricing |
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| Historical Description: | |
| Often seen as a minor accessory in a larger painting, few artists have thought
fish worthy of depiction in their own right. In this piece, Braque (Argenteuil-sur-Seine, 1882- Paris, 1963) finds a way
to expertly animate not the fish themselves, but the idea of fish. That is,
he has given life to fish as the object that we buy in the store and put on
our plates. How does one set about such a task? Focusing on the negative space
surrounding the fish, and using that as a means to delineate the fish themselves
Braque demands our attention to the almost geometrical outline of the subject.
His expert use of monotones, placing darks directly next to lights, and allowing
the medium browns to mediate the tension between the two further enhances the
excitement of the piece. Braque's spontaneity in his handling of the fish combines
with his exacting and deliberate use of a small range of colors to create an
alarming if not charming composition.
Created c. 1956, this color etching is hand signed by Georges Braque (Argenteuil-sur-Seine, 1882- Paris, 1963) in pencil in the lower right margin and numbered from the edition of 300 in pencil in the lower left margin. This work was published by Maeght, Paris and printed on BFK Rives Block watermarked paper. Documented and Illustrated in: About the Framing: | |
| Style: | Picasso Cubism, Cubist 20th Century French Modern Master |
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Biography of Georges Braque
Georges Braque (1882 - 1963)
Georges Braque was born on May 13, 1882, in Argenteuil-sur-Seine, France. He grew up in Le Havre and studied evenings at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts there from about 1897 to 1899. He left for Paris to study under a master decorator to receive his craftsman certificate in 1901. From 1902 to 1904, he painted at the Académie Humbert in Paris, where he met Marie Laurencin and Francis Picabia. By 1906, Braque's work was no longer Impressionist but Fauve in style; after spending that summer in Antwerp with Othon Friesz, he showed his Fauve work the following year in the Salon des Indépendants in Paris. His first solo show was at Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler's gallery in 1908. From 1909, Pablo Picasso and Braque worked together in developing Cubism; by 1911, their styles were extremely similar. In 1912, they started to incorporate collage elements into their paintings and to experiment with the papier collé (pasted paper) technique. Their artistic collaboration lasted until 1914. Braque served in the French army during World War I and was wounded; upon his recovery in 1917, he began a close friendship with Juan Gris.
After World War I, Braque's work became freer and less schematic. His fame grew in 1922 as a result of an exhibition at the Salon d'Automne in Paris. In the mid-1920s, Braque designed the decor for two Sergei Diaghilev ballets. By the end of the decade, he had returned to a more realistic interpretation of nature, although certain aspects of Braque's Cubism always remained present in his work. In 1931, Braque made his first engraved plasters and began to portray mythological subjects. His first important retrospective took place in 1933 at the Kunsthalle Basel. He won First Prize at the Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, in 1937.
During World War II, Braque remained in Paris. His paintings at that time, primarily still lifes and interiors, became more somber. In addition to paintings, he also made Braque etchings, lithographs, engravings, prints and sculpture. From the late 1940s, he treated various recurring themes, such as birds, ateliers, landscapes, and seascapes. In 1954, he designed stained-glass windows for the church of Varengeville. During the last few years of his life, Braque's ill health prevented him from undertaking further large-scale commissions, but he continued to paint, make lithographs, and design jewelry. He died on August 31, 1963, in Paris.
