Georges Braque was born on 13 May, 1882, in Argenteuil, Val-d’Ois and was raised in Le Havre. Like his father and grandfather, he had been trained to be a house painter and decorator. Unsatisfied with this, (between 1897-1899), Braques switched to studying artistic painting during the evenings at the École des Beaux-Arts, in Le Havre,
Braque is considered to be a major French 20th-Century Fauvist and Cubist artist, collagist, draughtsman, print-maker and sculptor. By 1905, he discovered and interpretted the new artistic style of the “Fauves” (“aka Beasts”) who were known for their use of brilliant colors to represent emotional response. Other Fauvist artists of the time included Henri Matisse and André Derain.
Later, Braque turned to Cubism with his love of geometry and simultaneous perspective displayed through art. He shared this love of Cubist form with Pablo Picasso. Both Braque and Picasso produced many paintings of mono- chromatic color and complex patterns of faceted forms of Cubist art which is now termed as “Analytic Cubism“. By 1912, both Braque and Picasso began to experiment with collage and Braque invented the papier collé technique.
Braque enlisted with the French Army, in 1914, during World War I and by May 1915, during the battle of Carency, he suffered from temporary blindness, as a consequence of injury during the battle. Braque died on 31 August, 1963 in Paris. He is buried in the cemetery of the Church of St. Valery in Varengeville-sur-Mer, Normandy whose windows were designed by Braque.
[Georges Braque | The Billiard Table (1945) oil on canvas 130 x 194cm School of Paris, Musee D’Art Moderne, Paris]
[Georges Braque | The Duet (1937) Oil on canvas 130 x 160 cm School of Paris, Musee D’Art Moderne, Paris]
[Georges Braque | Composition with Ace of Clubs oil, gouache and charcoal on canvas. 80 x 59cm. School of Paris, Musee D’Art Moderne, Paris]
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