Fruit Dish and Glass

Georges Braque

Sorgues, autumn 1912 · Charcoal and cut-and-pasted printed wallpaper with gouache on white laid paper; subsequently mounted on paperboard · Modern and Contemporary Art

According to Braque, this was his first papier collé, created in September 1912 with mass-produced faux bois wallpaper purchased in Avignon. To gain a surreptitious advantage over his partner and rival, Braque waited until Picasso had left Avignon for Paris before beginning to incorporate strips from the roll into his charcoal drawings. The machine-printed wallpaper was designed to be a cheap alternative to artisan-painted imitation wood, which was itself a cheaper alternative to real tongue-and-groove oak paneling. By using the three offcuts to frame his hand-drawn still life, Braque merged bargain-basement trompe l’oeil and avant-garde Cubist abstraction.

Artist

Georges Braque

Date

Sorgues, autumn 1912

Medium

Charcoal and cut-and-pasted printed wallpaper with gouache on white laid paper; subsequently mounted on paperboard

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection, Gift of Leonard A. Lauder, 2016