GEORGES BRAQUE 1882-1963
Argenteuil-sur-Seine, 1882-1963 Paris (French)
Title: The Raptor / Le Rapace, 1963
Technique: Original Hand Signed and Numbered Lithograph in Four Colours on Arches paper
Paper Size: 37.6 x 27.8 cm / 14.8 x 11 in
Additional Information: This lithograph in colours is hand signed in pencil by the artist at the lower right margin "G.Braque".
It is also numbered "29/75" in pencil at the lower left margin.
The paper bears the Arches watermark.
This is one of the lithographs that were included in the "Lettera Amorosa" Portfolio to illustrate the poems of the French artist Rene Char.
The work was published by Edwin Engelberts, Geneva, in a limited edition of 75 signed and numbered impressions in 1963.
It was printed by Mourlot in Paris.
Mourlot with whom Georges Braque collaborated on this project said:
"This work, whose execution lasted several years, greatly interested Braque. Several of these illustrations were redone two or three times and it was not always easy to obtain the Bon a tirer from the artist.
The majority of the works were done on litho paper, transferred to zinc or stone, and retouched by the artist in his workshop."
Note: The birds is a recurrent motif in Braque's oeuvre being a symbol of freedom and peace, especially after the second world war.
At the very end of his life, the artist painted birds repeatedly, as the perfect motif of his obsession with space and movement.
Provenance: Avant Garde Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Chrities, London, 29th of November 1995, lot 424.
Literature:
1. Vallier, Dora. 1982. Braque: The Complete Graphics Catalogue Raisonne. New York: Alpine Fine Arts collection
Reference: Vallier 187.
2. Engelberts, Edwin & Wunsche, Herman. 1971. Georges Braque: Das Lithographische Werk. Boon: Galerie Wunsche. No. 147.

Condition: Good Condition. Light staining in upper part of image.