In cofounding Cubism with Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque sought new ways to represent three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface. Glass, Bottle, and Playing Card (to the right), is an example of the analytic style of Cubism. Here, Braque disassembles his subject into planes and lines, highlighting the flatness of the canvas.
Braque later reintegrated color and volume into his still lifes, which featured objects that evoked a sense of touch, such as musical instruments and playing cards. Concert (to the left) underscores this tactility through Braque’s use of trompe l’oeil, or an optical illusion of three- dimensionality. Painted imitations of marble, wood, and wallpaper can be seen behind the table, which slopes for- ward, disrupting traditional perspective. Braque emphasized tactility in several ways, such as incorporating strips of paper in a technique called papier collé and mixing sand with gesso and paint, as seen in Kitchen Table with Grill (1943–44) on the adjacent wall.
Wall label, 2021.
