BUENOS AIRES: A BRAQUE TO THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS
The National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA) of Argentina incorporated a painting by the renowned French artist George Braque (1882-1963) into its collection. The artwork donated is Un assis à la corbeille de pommes (Sitting on the basket of apples), a painting produced by Braque in 1925, when he was already living in Paris. Far away from the classical currents and his early fascination with Fauvism, this painting represents his immersion within Cubism, a movement founded by Pablo Picasso -friend of Braque- and much explored by Braque, currently consecrated as one of the great cubist artists behind the Spanish painter.
Un assis à la corbeille de pommes (oil on panel of 92 x 73 cm) was donated to the museum by the Argentine designer and artist, graduated from the National School of Fine Arts -where he teaches drawing classes-, Alberto Churba. The work was part of Churba’s private collection and integrates a series of oil paintings and large drawings of nudes. Andrés Duprat, director of the MNBA, declared his enthusiasm about the donation: "We are very happy and grateful with Alberto Churba's donation of the highest generosity. The Museum did not have any paintings by Georges Braque, and this represented a notable absence since in the collection we have important works by many of his contemporaries, such as Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Paul Gauguin and Vassily Kandinsky, among others. "
At this time the painting of Braque is under the tutelage of the Collection Management team of the museum. They announced that it will soon be on display in room 28 on the first floor, along with other paintings and sculptures belonging to the period of European and River Plate avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century, including those of Braque’s friend , Pablo Picasso.
Considered one of the founders of cubism, Georges Braque was an illustrator, scenographer, sculptor and engraver. Like many Western artists who developed during the interwar periods, the French painter was in the trenches. Without abandoning cubism, his work after the First World War was centered on the production of still lifes, human figures and landscapes.
"Much of the Museum's historical collection comes from private donations; It is encouraging to note the validity of this practice today. This type of gesture fills us with pride, generates confidence and reaffirms the importance of the National Museum of Fine Arts, "explained Duprat.
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"Un assis à la corbeille de pommes", 1925, Georges Braque.
