Georges Braque

Georges Braque is one of the best-known and least-understood artists of our century. Though he has long been acknowledged as an essential figure in the evolution of contemporary art, it has been less clear whether he should be defined as a radical innovator or elegant stylist, as a serene classicist or temperamental individualist, as Picasso's sidekick or the grand old man of French painting. From his friends' affectionate recollections, Braque emerges as a cheerful dandy, renowned for his good looks, his skills as an amateur boxer, and his ability to play Beethoven symphonies on the accordion. His art suggests a far different persona, however, for Braque was intensely serious, technically meticulous, and devoted to making thoughtful, deeply felt images--whether as a Fauve, a Cubist, or a mature painter working in his own distinctive style. The greatest adventure of Braque's life was his six-year collaboration with Picasso, and those years yielded inventive works that changed the course of art history. But as this new volume makes clear, to think of Braque primarily in relation to Picasso is to underestimate him and to miss much of what makes Braque unmistakably "Braque". By helping us to see and understand how and what Braque painted, the ever-astute critic Karen Wilkin reveals the full magnitude of his achievement. Her perceptive text and discriminating choice of illustrations--including some works never before reproduced--bring a welcome new clarity to Braque's art and art making.