Georges Braque

(France 1882–1963)

Title

Landscape with houses

Other titles:

House and trees

Alternative title:

Paysage de La Roche-Guyon Paysage avec maison Maisons. La Roche-Guyon

Place of origin

L'Estaque → France

Year

Winter 1908-1909

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil on canvas

Dimensions

65.5 x 54.0cm stretcher; 88.3 x 76.3 x 4.5cm frame

Signature & date

Signed l.l. verso canvas, black oil "G Braque". Not dated.

Credit

Purchased 1980

Accession number

2.1980

Copyright

Location

Modern gallery

Further information

This landscape by the co-founder of cubism was painted in a region of France frequented by Cezanne: coastal L'Estaque. Not unnaturally, Braque's faceted brush-work resembles Cezanne's, while at the same time hinting at the fragmented system of application he was destined to perfect with Picasso. Though it had its genesis in landscape - Braque at La Roche-Guyon, Picasso at La Horta - the cubist method found its purest expression in still life. This painting has elements of that genre, from the object-like character of the houses and tree, to their flattening thrust into the plane of the picture. Braque's shifting of forms in space, indeed his shifting of space itself, announce the fourth dimension of cubism. The landscape is understood almost exclusively in spatial terms, though not without a dramatic connotation specific to the early days of the movement. 'Landscape with houses' has a rawness that would convert to refinement within the year. The palette of browns, greens and unemphatic blues is already, at this date, quintessentially cubist.

AGNSW Handbook, 1999.

Provenance (6)

Galerie Beyeler (Switzerland), 1977-25 Jan 1980, Basel/Switzerland, Purchased by the AGNSW from Galerie Beyeler 1980. Galerie Beyeler stock no. 8814.

Thomas Gibson Fine Art (England), pre 1977, London/England, Purchased by Galerie Beyeler from Thomas Gibson Fine Art 1977. Letters sent to Thomas Gibson Fine Art, 11 March and 14 October 2003 asking for information on when and from whom they acquired the painting. No response.

George W. and Emily Staempfli (United States of America), circa 1960-circa 1968, New York/New York/United States of America, by 1960, listed in 'Cubism and Twentieth Century Art' by Robert Rosenblum 1960 as collection of Mr and Mrs George W Staempfli. Lent in 1968 to the exhibition 'Summer loan exhibition including the McIlhenny and Staempfli Collections' at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Fine Arts Associates (United States of America), New York/New York/United States of America, dates unknown, sold to Mrs George Staempfli. Fine Arts Associates business records, now in the collection of the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., contain an undated sales record 'Paintings by Georges Braque sold by Fine Arts Associates, New York' page 3, listing the painting as sold to Mrs George Staempfli. Reel 4051 Otto and Ilse Gerson Papers, 6. Business records, a. Miscellaneous purchase and sales records.

Perls Galleries, New York (United States of America, estab. 1937, closed 1996), New York/New York/United States of America, stock number 5031. Perls Galleries records are now in collection of the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Edwin Suermondt (Germany, b.1883, d.1923), Aachen/Germany

Bibliography (24)

Terence Maloon (Australia) (Author), Paths to Abstraction 1867-1917, Sydney, 2010, 214 (colour illus.).

Musee Cantini (France), Georges Braque et le paysage: de l'Estaque à Varengeville 1906-1963, 2006, 129 (colour illus.). cat.no.20

Museum Folkwang, Essen (Germany), Cezanne and the dawn of modern art, 2004, (illus.). this work is not in this exhibition but is referred to in the catalogue

Sotheby's New York (United States of America) (Author), Sotheby's New York: The eye of a collector, works from the collection of Stanley J. Seeger, New York, May 2001, 99 (colour illus.). illustrated in reference to cat.no. 26 'La Maison. La Roche-Guyon'

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 53 (colour illus.).

Drew Westen (United States of America, b.1959) (Author), Psychology: Mind, Brain & Culture, Canada, 1999, 132 (colour illus.).

Susan Lee (Editor), Art Investigator, Port Melbourne, 1998, 182 (colour illus.).

Donald Williams (Australia) (Author), Barbara Wilson (Australia) (Author), From Caves to Canvas: An Introduction to Western Art (Second edition), Sydney, 1998, 243 (colour illus.).

'Close-ups of the Collection', pg. 6., Look Feb 1997, Feb 1997, 3 (colour illus.), 6.

Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 145 (colour illus.).

Martha Kapos (Editor), The Post-Impressionists: A Retrospective, Unknown, 1993, 29 (illus.).

Museum of Modern Art, New York (United States of America), Picasso and Braque A Symposium, New York, 1992, 184 (illus.). pl. 12. Symposium held at MOMA 10-13 Nov. 1989 in conjunction with the exhibition 'Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism'

Donald Williams (Australia) (Author), Barbara Wilson (Australia) (Author), From Caves to Canvas: An Introduction to Western Art, Sydney, 1992, 219 (colour illus.).

William Rubin (United States of America) (Author), Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism, New York, 1989, 112 (colour illus.).

Annabel Davie (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook, Domain, 1988, 50 (illus.), 51.

Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Editor), Jan Meek (Australia) (Editor), Portrait of a Gallery, Sydney, 1984, 91 (colour illus.).

'European Acquisitions: 1972-83' by Renee Free pg. 63-67, Art and Australia (Vol. 22, No. 1) Spring 1984, Spring 1984, 66, 67 (illus.).

'Georges Braque 1882-1963. Houses and trees. 1909' by Renée Free, pg. 5-8., Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection Series 4 Winter 1983, Winter 1983, 5 (illus.).

Nicole de Romilly (Author), Jean Laude (Author), Braque: Cubism 1907-1914, Paris, 1982, 85 (illus.). cat.no. 33

Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Three years on: a selection of acquisitions 1978-1981, Sydney, 1981, 31 (colour illus.). cat.no. 2

'Artists Choice No. 6: Georges Braque' by Rodney Milgate, pg.150-151, Art and Australia (Vol. 18, No. 2) Summer 1980, Summer 1980, 150, 151 (colour illus.).

Alfred Werner (England) (Author), Raoul Dufy, New York, 1970, 23 (illus.). fig.no. 19, as 'View of La Roche-Guyon' collection Mr & Mrs George W. Staempfli, N.Y.

Public Education Association of the City of New York (United States of America) (Author), Georges Braque, an American Tribute, New York, 1964.

Robert Rosenblum (Author), Cubism and Twentieth Century Art, London, 1960, 42 (illus.). as 'View of La Roche-Guyon' 1909

Exhibition history (12)

Georges Braque, an American Tribute, Saidenberg Gallery, 07 Apr 1964–02 May 1964.

The Years of Ferment: The Birth of Twentieth Centry Art 1886-1914, University of California Art Galleries, Los Angeles, 24 Jan 1965–07 Mar 1965.

The Years of Ferment: The Birth of Twentieth Centry Art 1886-1914, San Francisco Museum of Art, 28 Mar 1965–16 May 1965.

The Years of Ferment: The Birth of Twentieth Centry Art 1886-1914, Cleveland Museum of Art, 13 Jul 1965–22 Aug 1965.

The Heroic Years: Paris 1908-1914, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 20 Oct 1965–08 Dec 1965.

Summer loan exhibition: Paintings, drawings and sculpture from private collections, 1966, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 08 Jul 1966–31 Aug 1966.

Summer loan exhibition including the McIlhenny and Staempfli Collections, Philadelphia Museum of Art, May 1968–15 Sep 1968.

Three years on: Acquisitions 1978-81, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 15 Oct 1981–01 Dec 1981.

Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 24 Sep 1989–16 Jan 1990.

Picasso and Braque: die Gebürt des Kubismus, Kunstmuseum Basel, 25 Feb 1990–04 Jun 1990.

Georges Braque et le paysage: de l'Estaque à Varengeville 1906-1963, Musee Cantini, 01 Jul 2006–01 Oct 2006.

Paths to Abstraction 1867 to 1917, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 26 Jun 2010–19 Sep 2010.