Georges Braques / Inventor of Cubism / Gaensheimer, Meyer-Büser (ed.) / German-English

Reappraisal of Georges Braque in the History of Cubism

For eight years before the First World War, the young Georges Braque (1882–1963) and his friend Pablo Picasso shaped what is perhaps the most revolutionary stage in the history of modern painting: Cubism. Landscapes and still lifes are his special motifs. The book shows how Braque developed or reinvented the stylistic means in rapid succession and at the highest level: Fauvism, Pre-Cubism, Analytical Cubism, Papier Collés and Synthetic Cubism follow one another in a unique concentration. The speed and intensity of the change in style continue to amaze to this day.

In Western Europe, the years leading up to World War I brought about groundbreaking inventions, new ways of thinking and philosophies, and a fascinating acceleration of everyday life. There lies the origin of our modern, media age, with which spatial and temporal perceptions are also completely changing. Automobiles, airplanes and X-ray images open up new perspectives and dynamic perspectives on the world. The cinema, which is becoming more and more popular, with its surprising pictorial possibilities, broadens the horizon of perception and becomes the inspiration for the painting avant-garde. In the history of the work of the young Braque, who is an enthusiastic moviegoer and is inspired by the new techniques of film, the events of the time appear as if focused in a magnifying glass. The book follows this fascination and locates Braque's artistic phases in the historical context.