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| The Terrace 1948 -49 |
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| Le Pigeon Noir, 1956 |
These absolutely stunning paintings were done by Georges Braque in the late 1930s through to the 60s. If you are as excited about them as I am we have
Ken Kewley to thank. He is a master in his own right, (as I have
blogged previously) and has been uploading a ton of Braque's work onto his facebook to the great fortune and benefit of all of us.
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| Nature Morte a la Theire au Citron au Poisson, 1960 |
If you have had any of the same art school and museum experience as me, then Braque was neatly categorized with Cubist Picasso -- a swimming image of browns and collage materials comes to mind. Nice work, important at the time, but not so much to take from it and learn from as a painter today -- UNTIL THESE. These paintings are some of the best, most relevant paintings I have seen in the last year and pretty much ever. I feel invigorated by them, ready to go paint, which is when I know a painting is really moving.
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| Still Life with Palette, 1943 |
And there are hundreds of them. Ken says in a brilliant
essay on color, "paint instinctively with joy" and since I read that I commit it to memory and use it in the studio to bolster my courage. I think Braque is someone who truly accomplished this feat.
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| L'atelier au Tabouret, 1939 |
Update: Two days after posting this I learned that the Phillips will be having " the first in-depth study of still life in Georges Braque’s (1882–1963) career framed within the historical and political context of 1928 to 1945." Eek. Can't wait it opens June 8th.
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2 comments:
Braque was always a good colorist. His frequent use of a white outline is a throwback to the anti-cerne of his fauvism. Even with his use of neutrals browns and blacks tend to glow.
True! And looking back carefully in my mind a few Braque's are present (especially one with a bike and rain at the Phillips)
But in general I would have to say art history and its institutions do not pay full homage to his entire career and influence/interaction with other great colorists of the time -- I guess I should only speak for my experience but I don't find his pieces from the early 1910's particularly moving or worthy of all the attention considering the rest of his career.
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