c. 1910

Basket of Fish

French, 1882 - 1963

A pair of fish is visible at the center of this composition, simply sketched and superimposed crosswise. Textured paint gives some definition to the woven handle and the bottom edge of the wicker basket in which they lie. Basket of Fish exemplifies the early style of Cubism that Georges Braque developed in tandem with Pablo Picasso between 1908 and 1912. In Braque’s works of that period, motifs like the crossed fish are put in delicate equilibrium with an overall pattern of faceted planes in muted earth tones. Light and shadow are not deployed in the conventional way to set up a convincing illusion of three-dimensional form, but instead are spread around in misty, weightless fragments. Braque rejected closed and delimited forms and fixed viewpoints to explore the more fleeting and sensual aspects of his motifs through an imaginative handling of painterly marks. The ultimate effect was one of rigorous abstraction.