Georges Braque

Painter and engraver

Painter, printmaker and graphic artist, Braque originally began his training as an apprentice in his family's decorating business, before enrolling at the École des Beaux-Arts in Le Havre and later Paris. Friends from youth with Dufy and Frieze, it was these two that acquainted Braque with the Fauve group, with whom he exhibited in 1906. Also befriending Picasso, it was with him that Braque began to conceive the painting approach that we now know as Cubism.

Called to war in 1914, Braque was subsequently injured and left unable to work until 1917. From thenceforth his creation was prolific including, etchings for Hesiod's "Theogny", lithographs for Reverdy's "Liberty of Seas", engravings for "The Order of Birds" and set designs for Diaghilev's ballets. Braque was the receipient of much acclaim during his lifetime winning the Carnegie Prize in 1937, and the Grand Prize at the Venice Bienniale in 1948. In 1952-3 Braque was commissioned to paint three ceilings in the Etruscan Room of the Louvre; they were later to honor him in 1961 with an entire reconstruction of his studio, exhibiting the work of a living artist for the first time in the museum's history.

credits: IFPDA