Artist of the month – Georges Braque (13 May 1882 - 31 August 1963)

Georges Braque was a French painter, collagist, draughtsman, print maker and sculptor. His most important contributions to the art world were his associations with Fauvism and Cubism.

Braque and Picasso created Cubism, one of the most influential art movements of the 20th Century. The term Cubism was invented in 1908 when an art critic saw one of Braque’s paintings, he described it as “full of little cubes”. The Cubist movement quickly spread throughout Paris and Europe. Georges Braque worked with Picasso from 1908 to 1914. Their retrospective Cubist paintings were often very similar, though Braque’s work is more elegant, slightly more restrained, less emotional, and less expensive!

Braque’s quiet nature and personality was over shadowed by the fame and notoriety of Picasso.

By the time of his death in 1963, he was regarded as one of the elder statesmen of the School of Fine art in Paris, as well as in modern art.

A collection of David Henty’s Braques will be hanging in a new restaurant in Mayfair London 'Les Platanes', along with a De Kooning and several Soutines.