Georges, Braque, Si je mourais là-bas (p.31), 1962
1962
Original woodcut in color on pure wove paper for Guillaume Apollinaire’s Si je mourrais là-bas , Paris, Louis Broder éditeur, 1962
48 x 36 cm
Numbered lower left in pencil on X, signed by the artist lower right
Edition Féquet et Baudier, Paris
Catalogue raisonné : Vallier 181
Si je mourais là-bas is a poem from Guillaume Apollinaire’s collection Poèmes à Lou, written in 1915, in which the poet imagines his death at the front and confides in his beloved. In the book, illustrated by Georges Braque, 11 poems are illustrated with 18 original woodcuts by the artist. This woodcut, depicting flowers and foliage, is a signed and numbered large-margin proof.
About the author
Georges Braque (1882-1963)
The creator of Cubism with Pablo Picasso around 1907, after the First World War he adopted a more traditional aesthetic with a fairly dark color palette. Still lifes and landscapes are bathed in a calm, silent atmosphere. Georges Braque was also a painter of birds, which figured prominently in his late work. In 1953, they were given pride of place on the ceiling of the Salle Henri II at the Louvre. A close friend of poets such as René Char, Francis Ponge and Pierre Reverdy, Georges Braque illustrated numerous texts.
