Still Life: The Table

1928

Georges Braque

Artist, French, 1882 - 1963

A jumble of abstracted objects, including a stringed instrument, tableware, and fruit, are gathered on a tabletop in this horizontal still life painting. The objects are made up of areas of mostly flat color in muted fawn brown, cream, bright white, fern green, slate gray, and black. Many forms are outlined in black, creating the impression that the some shapes are two-dimensional and assembled almost like a collage. To our left, a musical instrument, perhaps a lute, sits next to appears to be lined paper, perhaps abstracted sheet music, at the center of the composition. In front of the paper, two pieces of pale yellow fruit sit on a silver plate. A rolled up white napkin sits next to the plate in front of an urn and a jug. A steel-gray goblet sits to the left of the plate. The background behind the table is painted with zones of moss green, sky blue, and gray. The edges appear torn, as if the painting is done on a loose canvas or sheet of paper that was then affixed to a support. The surface of the painting is rough and appears scratched throughout, and looks as if paint had been applied when nearly dry. The artist signed and dated the painting in white near the lower left corner: “G Braque 28.”
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On View

East Building Ground Level, Gallery 103-B

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 81.3 x 130.8 cm (32 x 51 1/2 in.)
    framed: 116.8 x 167 x 12 cm (46 x 65 3/4 x 4 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.92

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Paul Rosenberg and Co., London, New York and Paris); sold 1929 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1930

  • "La Nature Morte" from Chardin to the Abstract. Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1930, no. 17

1943

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Art Institute of Chicago, 1943-1952 (extended loan), unnumbered catalogue, repro. p. 14

1952

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1952, no. 15, repro.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1978

  • Aspects of Twentieth-Century Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978-1979, no. 34, repro.

2010

  • From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1930

  • Jewell, Edward Alden. "Apples of Hesperides." The New York Times. 19 January 1930: sec. 7: 12

1943

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1943:, 14, repro.

1952

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1952 (2nd ed., 1960; rev. ed., 1965): 15, repro.

1960

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1960 (2nd ed.): 16, repro.

1965

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965 (rev. ed.): 15, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 20.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 13, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 46, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 598, no. 928, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 68, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: G Braque / 28

Wikidata ID

Q20192768

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