The BioGem -- Sharing Celebrations -- Annette Bush

Each Week, Annette writes a short profile about an artist whose birthday is that week. These "BioGems" provide a fun insight into art history and offer a suggestion for sharing the celebration with these famous and not-so-famous creative spirits.

**See Disclaimer Below**

Last Week:
Ernst Kirchner

Next Week:
Hubert Robert

What's In Your Boxes?

Georges Braque
May 13, 1882 - August 31, 1963
Painter/Sculptor - Fauvist/Cubist - France

Some artists complain about the looks of their studios and spend time sorting things into little still-life arrangements or painting the walls and adding plants, a rocking chair or a bookshelf. Other artists don't have a clue about what to do with the three-dimensional space they occupy and just focus on the two dimensions of the painting surface in front of them.
Today's birthday artist knew how to do both and somehow he merged the two. So, how'd he do it?

Georges Braque was born in Argenteuil, one of Monet's favorite places, so you know he was influenced by the ideas of the Impressionists. He visited the South of France where exposure to the works and painting spots of Cezanne led to a geometric analysis of objects and a use of those unnatural Fauvist colors. He teamed up with Picasso to explore ways to depict multiple dimensions -- their Cubist paintings are so very similar, it is sometimes difficult to tell which one did the work. Hmm. Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism. Not so different from the transformations of most artists -- the trying-on of new things -- but, Braque had one ace up his sleeve. He had been sent to Paris as a young man to study for a craftsman certificate at Humboldt Academy. Those "minor" decorative arts skills and techniques are what affected his approach to painting and his ability to think three-dimensionally about his subjects.

With an underlying basis of Cubist innovations, he emphasized decorative and sensuous elements in paintings, lithographs, stained glass, and jewelry using a whole array of techniques to fill the dimensions of his life. After a serious head injury during WWI, Braque spent the next forty years working in semi-seclusion creating a world around himself.

As an homage to Georges Braque, try-on the soft edges of Impressionism, add the three-dimensional shapes of Cubism and splash with the wild color of the Fauves. Bring decorative, sensuous and delicious elements into your creative world which fill your work and your life with multiple dimensions.

Home

Sharing Celebrations

About Annette

Email Annette

Click here
to receive an email when each new BioGem is posted

Next Week:
Hubert Robert

Last Week:
Ernst Kirchner

The term "BioGem" was coined by one of Annette's fans.
Each weekly BioGem is ©Annette Bush for your inspiration and enjoyment.
If you need academic research, please don't depend on her information!

A quick check of the internet will show some of the Artists' work. Use these to get you started:

Home	Film at Eleven!	New Work	Oil Paintings	Watercolor Paintings	Small Paintings	About Annette	BioGem	Flat Stanley	Annette's Blog

Please contact Susan about any problems with this site.						Last Modified May 11, 2006.