Analysis of Violin and Candlestick by Georges Braque Essay

Braque’s oil painting is a cubistic still-life. It’s content seems to be made up of what looks like his belongings – a violin, a fruit bowl, a candlestick, a newspaper etc. As he lived in Paris at the time this painting was produced, these belongings would have been in his apartment in one of the most artistic city in the world. I am guessing the process he used to create this piece is by dabbing paint onto the canvas instead casually painting with it. This gives texture to the painting rather than it just being flat. There are many straight lines in this piece of art, which sharpens and flattens the objects; making them 2D while the painting itself is almost 3D; giving it an abstract feel. This painting is much like a puzzle, where it is broken, jumbled and muddled into pieces overlapping each other. This give of the impression that Georges Braque’s mood at the time was very confused. There are very limited colours in this oil painting, with a range from brown to grey which isn’t very much at all. This makes the objects harder to see, and this may be some sort of metaphor for his current state of mind; he can’t tell one feeling from another. At least that’s how I see it but there are many different interpretations of this work of art. Braque may have had the intention to confuse others by painting this, in those times people had never seen anything like this before, and this was one of the painting that marked the start of Cubism. Cubism is where a piece of art shows several viewpoints of simple shapes simultaneously. In conclusion, I find this piece quick interesting as I have a personal love for music and playing with wax which this painting is based on. I love how different objects merge into each other; without the use of smudging but the complete opposite which is sharpening. I feel that the painting is definitely a symbolism of Braque’s life situation; a large puzzle which is being put back together wrongly. Whatever that was happening at the time of this painting’s appearance, Georges Braque was definitely feeling very confused about the situation.