Guitar and Sheet Music on Table (1918; France) by Georges Braque

Guitar and Sheet Music on Table - Georges Braque - 1918; France

Artwork Information

TitleGuitar and Sheet Music on Table
ArtistGeorges Braque
Date1918; France
Mediumcollage,gouache,paper
Dimensions63.5 x 47 cm
Art MovementSynthetic Cubism
Current LocationColumbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH, US

About Guitar and Sheet Music on Table

The artwork titled “Guitar and Sheet Music on Table” was created in 1918 by the French artist Georges Braque. This piece is a synthesis of collage and gouache on paper and is an exemplary work of Synthetic Cubism, an art movement that emphasizes the combination of shapes and textures to depict objects in a simplified manner. The still life measures 63.5 x 47 cm. Currently, it can be found in the collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, in Columbus, Ohio, USA.

The artwork unveils a flattened assemblage of geometric forms that evokes the fragmented perception of a guitar and sheets of music resting on a table. The use of collage technique is apparent in the layered papers that provide both texture and depth, signifying elements of the depicted objects. Braque’s palette is subdued, incorporating a range of earth tones punctuated by spots of brighter colors. The background and the table are rendered in a manner that suggests a three-dimensional space reinterpreted into the two-dimensional plane typical of cubist works.

Despite the abstraction, there is an identifiable interplay between light and shadow, alongside the characteristic cubist fragmentation which guides the viewer into recognizing the objects as a guitar and sheet music. The influence of Synthetic Cubism is further showcased in how the artwork’s composition breaks the conventional boundaries of form and perspective, inviting the audience to engage with it through a process of visual reconstruction.

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