Homage to J. S. Bach
Georges Braque French
Not on view
This is likely the first Cubist painting to include a passage of hand-painted faux bois. Here, it represents the oak paneling behind the projecting table. Fine grooves in the oil paint indicate that Braque used a decorator’s graining comb. The flat, jet-black lettering of the music paper looks as if it were stamped on the surface of the completed painting, and Braque did use ready-made stencils to execute “BACH” (which also functions as a near homophone of his name). The use of commercial stencils was condemned in decorator’s manuals on the grounds that it required no skill; as if to prove his competence, Braque executed the letters “J S” by hand. T he artist signed the work at a later date.
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