1906
(French, 1882–1963)
Oil on canvas
Unframed: 59.7 x 73 cm (23 1/2 x 28 3/4 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.104
© Artists Right Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Inspired by the light and atmosphere of Port of l'Estaque, Braque wrote, "It's there that I felt all the elation. All the joy, welling up inside me."
Celebrated as the one of the inventors of Cubism, Georges Braque was also an important member of the French Fauves (Wild Beasts). Their principal aim was to liberate color from natural appearances in order to use it for purely expressive purposes. Braque painted The Port of L’Estaque on his first visit to the south of France. He was only twenty-four years old and bursting with enthusiasm. His excitement is felt in the undulating hills and the short, powerful strokes of pure, iridescent color, often applied in complementary color contrasts of red/green, blue/orange, and violet/yellow. However, his color harmonies do not follow any systematic method but are instead the result of an improvisational process sparked by the artist’s emotional reaction to the subject.
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