In this tall composition, a guitar, bottle, grapes, pears, and a musical score are placed upon a green marbleized fireplace. The work is characteristic of Braque's conservative mood after the heady years of Cubism and belongs to a series of paintings with musical subtitles such as Valse (Waltz), Java (Popular Dance), Quatuor (Quartet), and Duo, as seen here.
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Gottlieb Friedrich Reber, Lugano and Lausanne (in 1927); [Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, by 1934–at least 1941; sold to Thannhauser]; [Justin K. Thannhauser, New York, until 1945; sold on May 2, 1945, as "Still Life," to Marx]; Samuel and Florene Marx, Chicago (1945–his d. 1964); Florene May Marx, later Mrs. Wolfgang Schoenborn, New York (1964–d. 1995; her bequest to MMA)
Frankfurt. Kunstverein. "Exhibition of the Collection of G. F. Reber," February 1927, no catalogue.
Art Institute of Chicago. "A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture 1934," June 1–November 1, 1934, no. 339 (as "The Mantelpiece," c. 1924, lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery, New York).
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Museum of Art. "Abstract Painting, 1910," May 11–June 19, 1935, unnum. checklist (as "The Mantelpiece," c. 1924, lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery, New York).
San Francisco Museum of Art. "Braque and Picasso Abstractions," March 28–June 29, 1936, no catalogue.
New York. Pierre Matisse Gallery. "Landmarks in Modern Art," December 30, 1940–January 25, 1941, unnumbered cat. (as "The Mantel," 1924, lent by the Marie Harriman Gallery).
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Georges Braque," January 26–March 13, 1949, no. 42 (as "The Mantelpiece," lent by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel A. Marx, Chicago).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Georges Braque," March 29–June 12, 1949, no. 42.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: A 25th Anniversary Exhibition," May 31–September 5, 1955, no. 9 (as "The Mantelpiece," 1922, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel A. Marx).
Arts Club of Chicago. "An Exhibition of Cubism on the Occasion of the Fortieth Anniversary of the Arts Club of Chicago," October 3–November 4, 1955, no. 11 (as "The Green Mantel Piece," 1922, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Marx).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "The School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection," November 2, 1965–January 2, 1966, unnumbered cat. (p. 32; as "The Mantelpiece").
Art Institute of Chicago. "The School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection," February 11–March 27, 1966, unnumbered cat.
City Art Museum of Saint Louis. "The School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection," April 26–June 13, 1966, unnumbered cat.
Mexico City. Museo de Arte Moderno. "The School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection," July 2–August 7, 1966, unnumbered cat.
San Francisco Museum of Art. "The School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection," September 2–October 2, 1966, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Florene M. Schoenborn Bequest: 12 Artists of the School of Paris," February 11–May 4, 1997, extended to August 31, 1997, brochure no. 2 (as "Guitar, Bottle, and Fruit on a Mantelpiece").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Painters in Paris: 1895–1950," March 8–December 31, 2000, extended to January 14, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 94).
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," September 14–November 24, 2002, no. 39.
Tokyo. Bunkamura Museum of Art. "Picasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," December 7, 2002–March 9, 2003, no. 39.
Paris. Grand Palais. "Georges Braque," September 18, 2013–January 6, 2014, no. 121.
Houston. Museum of Fine Arts. "Georges Braque: A Retrospective," February 13–May 11, 2014, no. 121.
Gustave Coquiot. Cubistes, futuristes, passéistes. Rev. ed. (1st ed., 1914). Paris, 1923, ill. opp. p. 8, as "La Cheminée," with photo credit Galerie Simon.
Bulletin de "l'effort moderne" no. 22 (February 1926), ill. n.p., as "La Cheminée," 1923.
"Les Expositions à Paris et ailleurs." Cahiers d'art 2, supplément no. 1 (1927), ill. p. 7 (installation photo of Exh. Frankfurt 1927).
George Isarlov. Georges Braque. Paris, 1932, p. 23, no. 312, as "La Cheminée," 1922.
Edward Alden Jewell. "French Moderns Among Art Shows: 'Landmarks' Are Put on Display in an Exhibition Given at the Pierre Matisse Gallery." New York Times (December 31, 1940), p. 13.
Edward Alden Jewell. "In the Realm of Art: A Glance Back and a Look About. Exhibitions." New York Times (January 5, 1941), p. X9, as "The Mantel".
James W. Lane. "Milestones of Modern Taste from 1915 to 1940." Art News 39 (January 4, 1941), pp. 10–11, ill. (upside down), as "The Mantel".
Henry R. Hope. Georges Braque. Exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art. New York, 1949, pp. 88–89, 161, no. 42, ill., dates it 1922.
Maurice Gieure. G. Braque. Paris, 1956, pp. 33–34, 99, colorpl. 50, calls it "Cheminée" and dates it 1922.
René Ben Sussan in John Russell. G. Braque. London, 1959, p. 123, under no. 33.
Jean Leymarie. Braque. Lausanne, 1961, ill. p. 69 (color), calls it "The Mantelpiece" and dates it 1925.
John Maxon. "Samuel Marx, Chicago: Twentieth-century European Painting." Great Private Collections. Ed. Douglas Cooper. New York, 1963, p. 283, ill. p. 291 (installation photo), as "The Mantelpiece," 1922.
Lucy R. Lippard inThe School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1965, pp. 31–32, ill. (color), dates it 1922.
James Thrall Soby inThe School of Paris: Paintings from the Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx Collection. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1965, p. 9.
Massimo Carrà. L'Opera completa di Braque dalla scomposizione cubista al recupero dell'oggetto 1908–1929. Milan, 1971, pp. 98–99, no. 263, ill., dates it 1925.
Douglas Cooper. Braque: The Great Years. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1972, p. 50, fig. 22, as "The Mantelpiece," 1922–23; remarks that in 1921–22, Braque worked on three Mantelpiece paintings [all of the same dimensions] in the following order: one in the Národni Galerie, Prague (Mangin 1973, p. 85), one in the Mr. and Mrs. Richard K. Weil collection, St. Louis (Mangin 1973, p. 86), and this picture.
Nicole S. Mangin. Catalogue de l'œuvre de Georges Braque. Vol. [2], Peintures 1916–1923. [Paris], 1973, p. 89, ill., calls it "La Cheminée (Duo)" and dates it 1921.
Nadine Pouillon with Isabelle Monod-Fontaine. Braque:Œuvres de Georges Braque (1882–1963). Exh. cat., Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. Paris, 1982, pp. 86, 88, under no. 22, fig. 5, as "La Cheminée," 1925; date the series of mantelpieces between 1922 and 1927.
Karen Wilkin. Georges Braque. New York, 1991, p. 70, fig. 46 (color), as "The Mantelpiece," 1922 (1925?).
Dorothy Kosinski. "G. F. Reber: Collector of Cubism." Burlington Magazine 133, no. 1061 (August 1991), p. 522.
Carol Vogel. "32 Works of Art by Masters Left to Met and the Modern." New York Times (November 25, 1996), p. C12, as "Guitar, Bottle and Fruit," 1922.
William S. Lieberman. "Donnés au Met." Connaissance des arts no. 539 (May 1997), p. 70, ill. (color), dates it 1922; calls it the second and most elaborate version of this composition.
Peter Kropmanns and Uwe Fleckner. "Von Kontinentaler Bedeuteung: Gottlieb Friedrich Reber und Seine Sammlungen." Die Moderne und Ihre Sammler: Französische Kunst in Deutschem Privatbesitz vom Kaiserreich zur Weimarer Republik. Ed. Andrea Pophanken and Felix Billeter. Berlin, 2001, p. 394, no. 12 [probably this work], as "La cheminée," 1922, unknown collection.
William S. Lieberman inPicasso and the School of Paris: Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Exh. cat., Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. [Tokyo], 2002, pp. 91, 96–97, 166, no. 39, ill. (color).
Philippe Dagen inGeorges Braque, 1882–1963. Ed. Brigitte Leal, Gary Tinterow, and Alison de Lima Greene. Exh. cat., Grand Palais, Galeries nationales. Paris, 2013, p. 312, no. 121, ill. p. 122, fig. 1 (installation photo) and p. 134 (color), dates it 1925.
Armand Israël. Georges Braque: Père du Cubisme, initiateur de l'art contemporain. Paris, 2013, pp. 256–57, ill. (color), calls it "Cheminée," dates it 1935, and erroneously locates it still in the Marx collection.
Braque painted five other Mantelpiece pictures between 1921 and 1927 (Národni Galerie, Prague; former? collection Mr. and Mrs. Richard K. Weil, St. Louis; Kunsthaus Zurich; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida; Mangin 1973 pp. 85, 86; Mangin 1962, p. 6; Mangin 1968, pp. 47, 93).
Georges Braque (French, Argenteuil 1882–1963 Paris)
Paris, summer 1911
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