Georges Braque (French, 1882-1963)


Guillaume Apollinaire, Si je Mourais là-bas, Louis Broder, Paris, 1962 (Vallier 181) The complete set of 18 colour woodcuts in- and hors-texte, on hand-made Chiffon wove paper, with title, text in French, table of contents and justification, signed in pencil and numbered II/III, an exhibition copy (the total edition was of 180), with the additional suite of 16 colour woodcuts on Japan nacré, each signed in pencil and numbered VI/X, plus an unsigned woodcut of the design for the protective page, the full sheets, loose (as issued), all in very good condition, within the original grey paper and vellum-covered boards with the title in black on the spine Sheets 480 x 370mm.Folio 500 x 393 x 60mm.
|The timely Si je mourais là-bas [If I was to die over there] was published in 1962, a year before Braque died. The suite of eighteen wood-engravings illustrate selected poems from Guillaume Apollinaire Poèmes à Lou, that Braque chose and edited himself. Apollinaire and Braque were close friends and the poet had publicized the work of Braque and his fellow Cubists in his writings on art, before his death in 1918. Despite their friendship, Braque did not agree with his friend's approach and understanding of painting and their disagreements were a source of playful tension between the two. Braque's mysterious images for this suite illustrate this tension.