Fox

Description

Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso first met in November of 1907. A close friendship developed and the artists were essentially inseparable from 1909 until Braque was called to military service in 1914. During August of 1911 the two artists worked side by side in the French town of CÇret on a pair of etchings commissioned by dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler.Together Braque's "Fox" and Picasso's "Still Life with a Bottle" epitomize early Cubist printmaking. In both works the artists build a carefully integrated structure of planes and cubes over which representational details are inscribed. Traditional perspective is abandoned and precedence is given to a constantly shifting and fluid composition. Braque's use of numbers and letters in "Fox" both emphasizes the flat planar surface of the paper and brings to the world of art a bit of everyday life.Additional reminders of the familiar visual world can be recognized in such classic still life elements as playing cards, a saucer with a bill marked in 15 centimes, a bottle of "Old Tom" gin, and a glass. The composition is supported by a table, the drawer and knob of which are clearly visible. The title, "Fox", refers to a Parisian bar near the Gare Saint-Lazare frequented by the poet Apollinaire and his friends.