Braque, Georges, Varengeville, 1956

Varengeville, a village in Normandy not far from Dieppe, saw the arrival of artist Georges Braque and his wife Marcelle in 1928. They fell under its spell and soon bought a plot of land on which to build a traditional farmhouse. The area was ideal for walks and the search for the materials he would use in his canvases: chalk taken from the cliff face, sand, sawdust – all elements that would add substance to his canvases. This 1952 painting is reproduced in etching by the master engravers at Atelier Crommelynck. The background is horizontal, with the sky and ocean overhung by a cliff, and white chalk visible in the foreground. The colors are those of Normandy on a rainy day.