Georges Braque

Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris
M. Knoedler & Co., New York
Private Collection, Japan (acquired by 1960)
Fanny de Margoulies Rosenak, New York
Private Collection, Maryland
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2008

Tokyo, Le Journal Yomiuri, Georges Braque, 1952, no. 13

Jean Grenier, Braque, Peinture 1909-1947, Paris, 1948, illustrated on the cover
Galerie Maeght, ed., Catalogue de l'oeuvre de Georges Braque, peintures 1942-1947, Paris, 1960, no. 49, illustrated n.p.

The canvas is unlined and gently buckled, particularly at the upper center and lower right. The surface is nicely textured. Fine lines of stable craquelure are visible in many places, most notably in the yellow pigment and also in the black at lower left. Under UV light: original pigments fluoresce and small strokes of inpainting appear at the upper left corner and in the black just above the fruit. A layer of varnish is difficult to read through, particularly in the yellow pigments at left and center. The work is in overall good state.
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 subject 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. His artistic faculties and courageous vision were ideally suited for the genre, and it has been written: "Nobody else succeeded as [Braque] did in transforming a table covered with objects into a mental space, a cerebral as well as a visual stimulus. Braque's 'pedestal tables' reflect the subjectivity of the painter as much as the objectivity of an utterly ordinary environment" (Isabelle Monod-Fontaine, "Georges Braque's Still Lives" in Georges Braque: Order & Emotion, Andros, 2003, p. 19).

When the Germans occupied France in 1940, Braque was forced to flee, initially to the Limoges region and later to the Pyrenees, and when he returned to Paris he withdrew to his studio and lived in self-isolation through the remainder of the war. He was remarkably productive during this period, though his resulting output is striking in its austerity and its focus on basic foods, for example loaves of bread or bowls of fruit, which underscore the severe deprivation he experienced.