Biography

George Braque was a French painter and sculptor, one of the inventors of Cubism along with Pablo Picasso.

He was born in 1882 in Argenteul-sur-Seine, near Paris, and grew up in Le Havre, where he studied art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts for 2 years. He continued his studies in Paris, and earned his certificate of craftsmanship in 1901. From 1902-04 he studied at the Academie Humbert, where he met Francis Picabia.

Braque's early works (1902-05) were painted in the style of impressionists. In 1906 he entered his Fauve period, after he spent the summer with Othon Friesz in Antwerp. He became greatly influenced by Henri Matisse, André Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck. In 1907 he showed his Fauve-style work in the Salon des Independants in Paris. In 1908 he had his first solo show.

Braque and Pablo Picasso worked together in developing Cubism, from 1909. In the process of mutual artistic stimulation they created paintings of great consistency in their mutual resemblance, color scheme and architectonic solidity of composition. By 1911 Braque and Picasso became extremely similar in style. In 1912 both started to incorporate collage in their compositions. Their artistic collaboration lasted until the beginning of WWI in 1914. Both artists enjoyed financial and spiritual support from Gertrude Stein.

Braque served in the French army during WWI and was wounded on the battlefield. Upon his recovery in 1917 he moved on towards the new forms. His work became freer and more abstract. In the 1920s he worked with Sergei Diaghilev on two productions of the Russian Ballets. His fame grew and his first important retrospective took place at the Kunsthalle Basel (1933). He won First Prize at the Carnegie International, Pittsburgh (1937). He remained in Paris during WWII and continued making paintings, lithographs, engravings and sculpture until his death in 1963.