FREE ESSAY ON BRAQUE, THE FOGOTTEN CUBIST MASTER

BRAQUE, THE FOGOTTEN CUBIST MASTER

Although George Braque (May 13, 1882 - Aug. 31, 1963) was one of the most influential
painters of the twentieth century his name is all but forgotten. He has received little
credit for his efforts towards the creation of analytic cubism. Many art historians
believe that his prestigious role as father of analytic cubism was cut short because of
Picasso's fame. Many arguments have arisen asking the question: "Who is the father of
cubism?" There is no doubt that Picasso started the spark which ignited modern art
movements with the creation of "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.." But, soon after Picasso
created this work Braque created "Houses at L'Estaque." This painting started the
analytic phase of cubism. With this in mind, it can be stated that Picasso is the father
of modern twentieth century art and Braque is the father of analytic cubism. George
Braque is one of the most influential painters of the twentieth century. He co-worked
with Picasso to create cubism and helped spark all the future art movements of the
twentieth century. As well as this, he was the influence that made Picasso the fame that
he was to become. Braque has never received the recognition he should have because of
Picasso's fame, but his personal position in the art community was high and his
involvement with World War One was a major culprits that aided in his downfall in
artistic popularity. 
"Who the father of cubism?", has always been a question that has pondered the minds of
art historians and scholars. It is clear though that both Braque and Picasso played their
prominent role in the creation of cubism. Picasso provided, with his proto-Cubist
Demoiselles, the initial liberating shock. But it was Braque, largely because of his
admiration for Cezanne, who provided much of the early tendency toward geometrical forms.
Braque's early tendency towards geometric form and cubes was the spark which ignited the
minds of all future cubist artists; including Picasso. 
If there is one painting that is possibly one of the most influential images regarding
cubism in the twenty first century it is George Braque's "Houses at L'Estaque." During
the summer of 1908 in southern France, Braque painted a series of radically innovative
canvases, of which the most celebrated is "Houses at L'Estaque"; in this painting we can
see the slab volumes, sober coloring, and warped perspective typical of the first part of
what has been called the analytical phase of Cubism. This painting was shown in a show at
Kahnweiler's gallery. It provoked from the Paris critic Louis Vauxcelles a remark about
cubes that soon blossomed into a stylistic label. This painting was the painting that
gave cubism its name. Vauxcelles's remarked about the canvas being full of small cubes,
and this comment was the spark that constituted the name of the movement. Braque
undertook Vauxcelles criticisms, much like other movements of the past, and used it for
the name of the movement. ( Flam, 144)
In "Houses at L'Estaque" all the sensuous elements of Braque's previous years were
banished. Color has been reduced to a severe combination of browns, dull greens and
grays. The curving rhythms have given way to a system of vertical and horizontal, broken
only by the forty-five degree diagonals of roof-tops and trees. All details have been
eliminated and the foliage of the trees reduced to a minimum to reveal the geometric
severity of the houses. These are continued upwards almost to the top of the canvas so
that the eye is allowed no escape beyond them. The picture plane is further emphasized by
the complete lack of aerial perspective (the far houses are, if anything, darker and
stronger in value than the foreground house), and by the fact that occasionally contours
are broken and forms opened up into each other. There is no central vanishing point;
indeed in many of the houses all the canons of traditional perspective are completely
broken. (Flam 145) 
Although Braque was the first to create a cubist work, it is well known that cubism was a
combined team effort that was created through the genius partnership of both Braque and
Picasso. It is impossible to say which of the two was the principal stylistic inventor of
the revolutionary new style, for at the height of their collaboration they exchanged
ideas almost daily and produced pictures so alike as to be practically indistinguishable.
Examples of these similarities are the various nude pictures of women that both Picasso
and Braque created during the first years of analytic cubism. If we compare George
Braque's "Large Nude", to Picasso's Three women; it is easy to see that they must have
collaborated many ideas and exchanged critical analysis of each others work constantly.
The images in these two paintings look like they were created in almost exactly the same
format by the same person. It can be stated that George Braque and Pablo Picasso were
basically the same person for those first years of analytic cubism. (Arnason, 189)
By 1912 Braque, with the assistance and inspirations of Picasso, created a definitive
definition of analytic cubism. This newly created definition was created through months
of trial and error and monumental discussions with Picasso.
This Cubist style emphasized the flat, two-dimensional surface of the picture plane,
rejecting the traditional techniques of perspective, foreshortening, modeling, and
chiaroscuro and refuting time-honored theories of art as the imitation of nature. Cubist
painters were not bound to copying form, texture, color, and space; instead, they
presented a new reality in paintings that depicted radically fragmented objects, whose
several sides were seen simultaneously.
(Brenson, C1) 
If there is one aspect of Braque's life that is confusing, it is why he has not received
the recognition for his works the way that Picasso has. Braque was just as much, if not
more, the creator of analytic cubism. He worked alongside Picasso in developing all
aspects of cubism from day one until the beginning of World War One. The only reason why
Braque's name is not remembered as well as Picasso's is because of his enlistment to
fight in World War One. This event was the turning point of his career. The events which
conspired during WWI and the years that followed boosted Picasso's Popularity while
diminished Braque's.(Frank,18)
At this point in history, 1914, Braque left the art scene to fight in the war. He entered
the army as an infantry sergeant and served with distinction, being decorated twice in
1914 for bravery. In 1915 he suffered a serious head wound, which was followed by a
trepanation, several months in the hospital, and a long period of convalescence at home
at Sorgues. During this period he added to the aphorisms he had been in the habit of
scribbling on the margins of drawings, and in 1917 a collection of these sayings, put
together by his friend the poet Pierre Reverdy, was published in the review Nord-Sud as
Thoughts and Reflections on Painting. Even a brief sampling can suggest the quality, at
once poetic and rational, of Braque's mind and the sort of thinking that lay behind
Cubism: 
New means, new subjects. . . . The aim is not to reconstitute an anecdotal fact, but to
constitute a pictorial fact. . . . To work from nature is to improvise. . . . The senses
deform, the mind forms. . . . I love the rule that corrects emotion. (Braque)
Released from further military service, the artist rejoined the Cubist movement, which by
then was in what is sometimes called its synthetic phase--a not very adequate way of
referring to a tendency to use more color and to represent objects not by the previous
spider web of analytical signs but by relatively large emblematic planes. (Frank, 18)
Rapidly, however, he moved away from austere geometry toward forms softened by looser
drawing and freer brushwork; an example of the change is the 1919 Still Life with Playing
Cards. From this point onward his style ceased to evolve in the methodical way it had
during the successive phases of Cubism; it became a series of personal variations on the
stylistic heritage of the eventful years before World War I. This change in Braque's
style, and his with drawl from cubism during the war ( 1914-1918 ) were the major
contributors to his loss of fame. 
Before the war the two artist, Braque and Picasso, were considered equals in every aspect
of painting. But, Braque left the art scene for four years and Picasso used this time to
accelerate his career ahead of Braque. Braque's name was all but forgotten due to this
absence. 
George Braque, through his creation of "Houses L'Estaque" set the standards for analytic
cubism. He is the father of analytic cubism, but this is a title that the general public
has no recollection of. Picasso took the title away from Braque when he was leading the
movement during World War One. George Braque was out of the art scene for to long to ever
recover his role as the prominent figure of cubism. ( John, 31)
Braque, along side Picasso, can be credited with sparking the creations of various
artistic styles with their creation of the new visual language of cubism. His visual
language of cubism was adopted and further developed by numerous painters which followed
his lead. Such painters are Fernand Leeger, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Juan Gris, Roger
de la Fresnaye, Marcel Duchamp, Albert Gleizes, and Jean Metzinger. Though primarily a
style associated with painting, Cubism also exerted a profound influence on 20th-century
sculpture and architecture. Chief among the sculptors who worked in this style are
Alexander Archipenko, Raymond Duchamp-Villon, and Jacques Lipchitz. The adoption of the
Cubist aesthetic by the architect Le Corbusier is reflected in the shapes of the houses
he designed during the 1920s. The cubist style that was created by Braque and Picasso was
a fundamental foundation for the future generations of modernist painters. This style was
an essential building block in modern art. George Braque, along with Picasso are the two
most influential artists of the twenty first century. (Flam, 144)
"Who is the father of cubism?" Well I would have to agree that Both Picasso and Braque
put their efforts together when creating cubism, but Braque was the first to create an
analytic work: "House at L'Estaque." They are both leaders of cubism, but Braque was the
first to create a cubist work, so he should receive the title of father of cubism. These
two leaders of cubism are the two most influential painters of the twentieth century.
Braque and Picasso both were the foundation artists who started an aspect of all the
future art movements of the twentieth century. 
(Golding 144) Braque has never received the recognition he should have because of
Picasso's fame, but by examining his life story and understanding the circumstances
involved during his life we can see that he has been disregarded as the prominent figure
that he is. Braque's "House at L'Estaque" is the painting that sparked the start of
analytic cubism and that painting is one of the turning points in art. Although Picasso
became the father of modern art with his "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon", Braque is the
father of cubism because he created the first analytic work. Braque has never received
the recognition he deserves, and it coincides well with a quote that Braque stated
himself: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the thing you can't explain."
George Braque
Bibliography
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1/31/97. Issue 4205, p.10
3) Flam, J. "Cubiquitous." Art News. Dec 89, p 144
4) George Braque, Illustrated Notebook, 1971-1975. Ed S. Applebaun, Dover, NY
5) Golding, J. "Two who made a Revolution." New York Review of Books. 5/31/90, 
Vol 37 issue 9 p 8.
6) Gopinik, A. "A Leap in the Dark." New Yorker. 10/23/89, p 132.
7) History of Modern Art, H.H. Arnason & Marla F. Prather, 4th Edition
8) John Golding, Cubism: A History and an Analysis, 1907-1914
9) Richard, John. "Braque, The great forgotten modernist." New York Review of Books.
2/27/97. Vol 44 Issue 5, P 31.
10) Whitfork, Frank. "Royal Academy of Arts." TLS. 2/14/97. Issue 4898 p.18
11)"Will George Braque every get his due?" Hudson Review. Autumn 97, Vol 50 Issue 3, P
444.