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The PortugueseThe Portuguese Photo © Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art Resource, NY © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris

The Portuguese

Georges Braque. 1911 C.E. Oil on canvas.

Curator Note

"A seminal example of Analytic Cubism. Braque disassembles a guitar player in a Portuguese bar into a complex grid of fractured planes. The figure and background are indistinguishable. He includes stenciled letters ("D BAL"), introducing text as a flat, real-world element that emphasizes the canvas surface, challenging the illusion window of Renaissance art."

Form

  • Analytic Cubism: shattering form into geometric shards.
  • Monochromatic palette (browns, grays) to focus on form.
  • Grid-like structure.
  • Stenciled letters/numbers flatten the space.
  • Shallow depth; transparency of planes.

Function

  • To analyze the object from multiple viewpoints simultaneously.
  • To emphasize the 2D reality of the canvas.
  • To dissect the process of perception.
  • To depict the "fourth dimension" (time/movement).
  • To break down the distinction between figure and ground.

Content

  • A man playing a guitar (fragments of strings, sound hole).
  • Dock/Harbor setting (rope, steps).
  • Letters "D BAL": possibly "Grand Bal" or poster text.
  • Numbers: purely graphic elements.
  • The subject is secondary to the formal experiment.

Context

  • Braque and Picasso worked together closely ("roped mountaineers").
  • Reaction against the emotional color of Fauvism.
  • Influenced by Cézanne’s passage.
  • The first time text was used in fine art painting.
  • Shift towards intellectual abstraction.