Basket of Anemones France, 20th century

Basket of Anemones

1924

Georges Braque

(French, 1882–1963)

France, 20th century

oil on canvas

Unframed: 21 x 65.4 cm (8 1/4 x 25 3/4 in.)

Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.103

Location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Did You Know?

The flowering plant genus Anemone blooms in a wide variety of colors from red to blue; however, Braque opted to paint the flowers in a muted, neutral Cubist color palette.

Description

Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso worked closely together in the invention of Cubism from 1908 to 1914. “We were like two mountain climbers roped together,” Braque recalled. They separated when Braque enlisted in the French army at the outbreak of WWI in August 1914. Following a severe head wound and hospitalization, he returned to painting in 1916, but worked alone developing a personal Cubist style concerned with complex spatial constructions, color relationships, and textured surfaces. The flowers and basket in this still life are flattened, pressed tightly against the upright forms in the background, and surrounded by an illusionistic shadow. A decorator’s comb was used to create the wood grain pattern in the tabletop.