Provenance
The artist; Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris, after 1907 to before 1914 [Kahnweiler photo no. 1031; Isarlov 1932]. Possibly sold through Fine Arts Associates, New York to Mr. S. M. Lubitsch, New York, Nov. 1951. Mr. and Mrs. William Bedford, Copenhagen, by 1956 [London 1956]; Mrs. N. Bedford, New York [Chicago 2000]; sold to Nathan Cummings (1896–1985), Chicago, Mar. 29, 1963 [Sara Lee Corporation records]; the Sara Lee Corporation, Chicago, after 1982 and by 1986 [Corporation records mentioned above; Grunwald 1982; Brettell 1986]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, Sept. 13, 1999.
Accession Number
153698
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
59.7 × 73 cm (23 1/4 × 28 1/2 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Credit Line
A Millennium Gift of Sara Lee Corporation
Background & Context
Background Story
Georges Braque's "Antwerp" (1906) is an oil on canvas depicting the Belgian port city, painted during the same Fauvist period as his L'Estaque landscapes. Antwerp, with its busy harbor, historic buildings, and northern light, offered a very different subject from the southern French landscapes Braque had been painting. This view shows the city with its characteristic architecture, perhaps the cathedral or the harbor, rendered in the bold colors and simplified forms of Fauvism. The palette may be cooler and more subdued than the southern landscapes, reflecting the different quality of Belgian light. The brushwork is energetic and expressive. This painting documents Braque's Fauvist period and his travels in 1906, before he settled into the studio practice that would lead to Cubism. The Fauvist experience was crucial for Braque's development: it liberated his color and taught him to trust his instincts, lessons that would serve him well in the more rigorous explorations of Cubism that followed.
Cultural Impact
Braque's Fauvist cityscapes demonstrate his early mastery of the bold color and expressive brushwork that defined the movement, before he turned to the more analytical approach of Cubism.
Why It Matters
This view of Antwerp from Braque's Fauvist period captures the character of the Belgian port city through vibrant color and energetic handling, the young artist testing his powers against the urban landscape.
