braque, large nude, 1907/08

Question 1

year

Answer 1

1907/08

Question 2

subject

Answer 2

female nude (traditional subject in western art)

braque treats in radical way like piccasso did is les demoisselles d’avignon

Question 3

treatment of figure

Answer 3

-abandons tradition of naturalism in female nude

-rejection of academic nude through use of primitivism

-abstraction and simplification of form, breaks down and distorts female body

-over proportioned muscles

-figure reduced to angular geomatric forms (recalls les demoisselles d’avignon)

-Some linking passages between the trunk and limbs are questionable

Question 4

use of outline

Answer 4

uses crude outlines

Question 5

tonal modelling and shading

Answer 5

rejects traditional tonal modelling and shading

Question 6

Influence of tribal art influences in the non-traditional, anti-idealistic treatment

Answer 6

-anti naturalistic distortion of figure as see in african art

-large head and huge shoulders

-thich thighs (accentuated on left)

-exaggerated buttocks

-attentuated waist

-emphasis of mass on human body

-lack of detail, body emphasised through thick outline

Question 7

where was the tribal mask braque owned from

Answer 7

Gabon

Question 8

colour

Answer 8

-anti-naturalistic use of colour (like in fauvism)

-a limited pallet, but not yet monochrome (which colour became in analytical cubism)

-rejects pinks and blues of fauve works: uses subdued pallette of ochres, browns and grey blues

-uses colour to depict volume

Question 9

pose/ setting

Answer 9

• could be standing (indicated by left foot) or lying in a bed

-earth colours dont distinguish a location

-angular drapery recalls les demoiselles d’Avignon

Question 10

space

Answer 10

-there is a sense of depth (created by overlapping forms) but doesnt use traditional spacial devices to depict space

-rejects consistent tonal modelling (seen in juxtaposition of light and dark)

-rejects one point linear perspective, instead uses multiple viewpoints ( a cezanne inspired approach and also piccasso)

-flattening of surface created by saturated colour and legible brushstrokes

Question 11

brushwork

Answer 11

-crude and obvious

-Rough brushstrokes and impasto mimic the wooden sculptures of tribal art

-emphasises 2D nature of the work

Question 12

passage

Answer 12

used to break up the contours that define objects or scenes, so that surfaces appear to flow together, blurring the distinctions between solid form and space, foreground and background
A technique picked up from Cézanne
In Large Nude Braque avoids closed contours - see the gaps in the outlines - he allows objects and sur-roundings to blend into one another

Question 13

process

Answer 13

painted directly, no prepatory drawings

Question 14

influence of impressionism

Answer 14

The Impressionists impacted Braque in 2 ways:

1.Impressionists turned away from illustrating topics loaded with meaning
2.Impressionists began to explore the ways an artist can capture the full essence of a viewing experi-ence

Question 15

influence of cezanne

Answer 15

-was the painter who influenced braque most deeply, set path for cubism

-INFLUENCE OF CEZANNE SEEN IN:

choice of subject (e.g large bathers)

simplification of form

use of colour to create a sense of volume rather than tonal modelling

sculptural feel of figures/ distortion

multiple viewpoint perspective-effect of seeing thngs from many angles simultaneously

anti naturalistic colour

Question 16

influence of picasso

Answer 16

-went to picassos studio for the first time in 1907 where he saw les demoiselles

-soon after seeing this work he painted large nude, rarely painted human form before this

-close friendship developed between the two

Question 17

influence of primitivism

Answer 17

fueled by gaugins retrospective in 1906 at salon d’automne (his works showed influence of non western artefacts and carving)

Large Nude shows the influence of tribal art

Braque himself owned a tribal mask from Gabon

On visits to the Louvre Braque had long been drawn to Egyptian and archaic sculpture

Picasso’s Demoiselles consolidated his interest in primitive art

Question 18

influence of albert einstein

Answer 18

-influenced by the theory of relativity, asserted that space and time are not fixed stable measures

idea that space and time were fluid motivated some of their thinking and pictorial approaches

Braque uses multiple viewpoints simultaneously in order to reflect how we experience objects in space and time

Question 19

where was it displayed

Answer 19

*Following the rejection of Large Nude (among others by Braque) by the jury of the 1908 Salon d’Automne, Kahnweiler (art dealer) displayed 27 paintings by Braque in a solo show in the November of that year at his own gallery

Kahnweiler’s support gave his artists like Braque the freedom to experiment in relative privacy