Biography

Braque produced this magnificent painting when he was fifty-four and an acknowledged master, having already explored Fauvism and Cubism.

​

He created a synthesis of these styles in which Cubist form and tilting of objects is fused with a Fauvist exploration in exhilarating color relationships. Inventor of Cubism along with Picasso, Braque was born in Argenteuil and died in Paris. He painted animated figures, interiors, still lifes, and landscapes, and made collages, engravings, and sculptures.

​

Braque grew up in a family of artisans in Normandy and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts from 1897 to 1899 under the direction of Charle L’huillier. In Paris, he obtained a certificate in crafts in 1901. The next year, he entered the l’académie Humbert where he met Marie Laurencin and Francis Picabia.

​

He joined the Fauves in 1905 along with Henri Matisse and André Derain until 1908, when his paintings reflected an interest in geometry and perspective through Cubism. In 1914, Braque enlisted in the army and suffered temporary blindness.

​

He began painting again in 1916, after he moved to Normandy, where he became close friends with Juan Gris and began softening the harsher lines in cubism in favor of brilliant color. He painted under the end of his life.