Fruit Dish and Glass

Fruit Dish and Glass (1912), by Georges Braque, is the first papier collé (pasted paper, colloquially known as collage). Braque and Pablo Picasso made many other works in this medium, which is generally credited as a key turning point in Cubism. Inspiration and Process Braque was inspired to create this piece after visiting an Avignon shop where he purchased a roll of faux bois paper, simulating oak paneling and consisting of two kinds of printed motifs on a dark beige background, while traveling with Picasso and his companion, Eva Gouel, in Sorgues. Braque said that he eyed the paper but waited to act on his ideas until Picasso went to Paris. Picasso was going to Paris for a week to organize his move to a new apartment on 242 Boulevard Raspail. After Picasso had left, Braque bought the paper and made several works starting with Fruit Dish and Glass. When Picasso returned, Braque showed him his work; later, Picasso copied the technique. Braque may have been drawn to this paper because he was trained in a technique called trompe-l'œil; which allowed him to create pictorial effects that resemble woodgrain and marble finishes, but are made with paint and a special wide comb. Braque then may have found it amusing to incorporate the woodgrain paper in his piece. He may also have wished to use the paper to create a visual pun about the nature of representation. He noticed that because the paper looks realistic and yet it is flat, and pasted on, it undermines spatial relationships. It can act as the foreground, the background, or both. In Fruit Dish and Glass the glass filled with grapes and pears are flattened and distorted versions of actual objects. Braque used textures, shapes, and composition to construct a painting that is half recognizable and half symbolic.