Georges Braque
© National Portrait Gallery, London
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Georges Braque
by Ida Kar
2 1/4 inch square film negative, 1960
Purchased, 1999
Photographs Collection
NPG x132964
Artistback to top
- Ida Kar (1908-1974), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 1567 portraits, Sitter in 137 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Kar photographed Braque at his Paris studio, at a time when he was working on the Birds series. His experimentations with silhouettes and ideograms, carved into painted plaster plaques or on pebbles, led to his producing lithographic works such as Oiseau de feu (1958) and Oiseau en vol (1961).
Linked publicationsback to top
- Freestone, Clare (appreciation) Wright, Karen (appreciation), Ida Kar Bohemian Photographer, 2011 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 10 March to 19 June 2011), p. 84 Read entry
Braque grew up in Le Havre, where in 1899 he was apprenticed to a painter-decorator. After attending the École Supérieure d'Art in Le Havre, Braque went to Paris to continue his training, studying at the Académie Humbert. In 1905-07 he painted landscapes in the fauve style, using bright colours and impulsive brushwork. The year 1907 marked an aesthetic change in Braque's work, possibly influenced by Paul Cezanne's memorial exhibition at the Salon d'Automne and by his meeting with Picasso, in whose studio he saw Les demoiselles d'Avignon. These two events contributed to a transition towards a more subtle palette and a fragmentation of form in Braque's work. During the summer of 1908 he painted radically innovative canvases, a series of landscapes including Houses at L'Estaque which were described by Matisse as 'little cubes', anticipating cubist geometric forms. His friendship and partnership with Picasso would lead to the joint creation of cubism. Kar photographed Braque at his Paris studio, at a time when he was working on the Birds series. His experimentations with silhouettes and ideograms, carved into painted plaster plaques or on pebbles he picked up on the shore at Varengeville-sur-Mer, led to him producing lithographic works such as Oiseau defeu (Firebird, 1958) and Oiseau en vol (Bird in Flight, 1961).
Events of 1960back to top
Current affairs
Prince Andrew is born, the third child of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.The Contraceptive Pill is introduced in England, dramatically changing the nation's approach to sex and relationships, and significantly contributing to the 1960s culture of liberation.
Art and science
Penguin books defend D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover against charges of obscenity by demonstrating that the novel was of literary merit. The 'not guilty' verdict was seen as a victory for free speech and marked the beginning if a new era of liberalism.The satirical revue Beyond the Fringe launches the careers of Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Jonathan Miller.
International
Harold Macmillan delivers his 'wind of change' speech to the South African Parliament in Cape Town, announcing Britain's decision to grant independence to many of her colonies. The speech recognised the emergence of African nationalism, and criticised the policy of Apartheid in South Africa.Comments back to top
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