Title : Bird and tree, 1958

Technical and support: Lithography on paper

Features of the work: Original print signed by the artist lower left, annotated "bat" and dated. This work is a "good to print" that is to say the test which formalizes the agreement of the artist to then pass to the numbered print of a print because he considers it to be perfect. Indeed, before this "good to press", the printer publishes so-called "trial" proofs that he improves one after the other. This "bon à Tirer" gives the green light to an additional large-margined edition (in a larger format) of one of the illustrations from the book "Tir à l'arc" published by Louis Broder in 1960 and highlighted by Georges Braque ie illustrated by prints of the artist, themselves accompanied by aphorisms. The Book takes up the texts of Suzuki and Herrigel author of "Zen in the chivalrous art of archery". The book, which includes small format prints (20 x 15 cm) mostly unsigned by the artist, was published in 165 copies. The print offered by the gallery is not only much larger than that of the book (because it is printed with wide margins) but it is also hand-signed by Georges Braque. It was obviously drawn in a single copy since it is a good to print, the following numbered edition is only 10 copies.

Dimensions: 17.5 x 11.5 cm (38 x 28 cm with margins)

State : Well, two small holes of barely 0.1mm almost indiscernible, probably linked to the granularities of the printing matrix of the print.

Origin : Genevieve and Jean Paul Kahn collection

Expert's comment: Braque with this lithograph, is not limited to illustrating the book "Tir à L'arc", he highlights it. He is also aware that to see beyond appearances and make emotions speak, it is necessary to intellectualize things. Just as archery is certainly more than a sport, the artist's prints are more than what they represent, they immerse us in a state of zenitude. To achieve his goal, the archer like the artist must reach a state close to meditation that can be transmitted to the spectator. Influenced by Japanese prints and Zen, Braque's works unmistakably reflect his personality. Discreet, little focused on public relations, fond of poetry and music, the artist's lithographs provide feelings of lightness, zen and poetry. The softness of the colors combined with the lightness of the line reinforces these feelings. Like a Zen master, he goes beyond technique to tap into the unconscious and thus immerses us in a state of plenitude.

Biography of the artist: Born May 13, 1882 in Argenteuil, Georges Braque was the first painter to enter the Louvre during his lifetime. He took courses to become a painter until 1905. In 1906, he discovered the Fauvism of Matisse and Derain and found in this movement a way of moving away from academicism and exploring the unknown lands of color. It was on his return from a trip to L'Estaque near Marseille that he discovered cubism, which was to revolutionize the plastic rhythms of painting. 

In 1922, he manifested another way of approaching painting, according to determined themes. This is the third phase of his work, that of the thematic period. He has the ambition to perfect his pictorial conceptions to the extreme limit of their possibilities and thus emerges from these themes, fundamental works such as "the birds".