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Still Life with Blue Plums and a Glass of Water
Georges Braque (French, 1882–1963)
1925
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
23.2 x 73.1 cm (9 1/8 x 28 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rosenberg
Accession Number57.523
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
In the 1920s Braque produced a number of horizontal still lifes more naturalistic in style than the fragmented, Cubist compositions of his earlier work. These still lifes have been interpreted as a response to the rappel à l’ordre (return to order), a widespread desire for the reestablishment of traditional values in postwar France. Here the rounded, deep-hued plums suggest a renewed interest in naturalistic form, while the off-kilter tabletop reveals Braque’s Cubist roots.
InscriptionsLower left: G. Braque/ 25-
Provenance1925, acquired from the artist by Paul Rosenberg (b. 1881 – d. 1959) and Marguerite Rosenberg (b. 1893 – d. 1968), Paris [see note 1]; 1940, deposited by Paul Rosenberg in the Banque National pour le Commerce et L’Industrie (BNCI), Libourne [see note 2]; September 5, 1941, confiscated from Paul Rosenberg by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR no. PR 86) and sent to the Musée Jeu de Paume, Paris; July 18, 1942, inventoried at the Musée Jeu de Paume [see note 3]; July 5, 1944, packed to be shipped by train on August 1 from the Musée Jeu de Paume to Nikolsburg [see note 4]; 1944, shipment was stopped and the painting returned to the Musée Jeu de Paume and placed in the custody of the Commission de Récupération Artistique (CRA) [see note 5]; September 14, 1945, restituted by the CRA through Alain de Léché to Paul and Marguerite Rosenberg, New York [see note 6]; 1957, gift of Paul and Marguerite Rosenberg to the MFA. (Accession Date: May 9, 1957).
NOTES:
[1] Paul Rosenberg was a Jewish art dealer and collector. He represented and was friends with Georges Braque. According to an April 16, 1957 letter from Rosenberg to Perry T. Rathbone of the MFA in curatorial files, this picture had been in the Rosenbergs’ personal art collection since 1925.
[2] Before World War II, Rosenberg sent a part of his art collection to the United States, and other portions he stored at various locations in France. Rosenberg left France for the United States in June 1940. See Hector Feliciano, The Lost Museum: The Nazi Conspiracy to Steal the World’s Greatest Works of Art, New York, 1997, pp. 65-69.
[3] The ERR was the National Socialist agency responsible for the plundering of art and cultural goods in France. On April 28, 1941, National Socialist forces opened Rosenberg’s bank safe and the contents were inventoried and moved to a second safe in the bank. On September 5, 1941, the paintings in the safe were confiscated by an ERR officer. This painting was given ERR no. PR 86, and arrived at the Musée Jeu de Paume on September 6. The Musée Jeu de Paume was used as a storage facility by the ERR for confiscated art. It was inventoried there as “Violette Pflaumen” by Braque. See Bundesarchiv B 323 (TVK)/288, Bd. 19, fol. 405. See also PR 86 in the Database of Art Objects at the Jeu de Paume (www.errproject.org).
[4] On July 5, 1944, the painting was packed in preparation to be shipped by train from the Musée Jeu de Paume to Nikolsburg on August 1, 1944. The train was delayed and eventually apprehended by the French Resistance and Allied forces on August 27 in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a suburb of Paris. See Bundesarchiv B 323 (TVK)/303, Bd. 1/2, fol. 6 and Feliciano 1997 (see above, note 2), p. 165.
[5] The Commission de Récupération Artistique was a public body of the French Ministry of Education created on November 24, 1944, responsible for returning artworks and books plundered by National Socialist forces during the Occupation of France.
[6] On September 14, 1945, the Tribunel de Paix de 1er Arondissement de Paris issued a judgement for this painting, among other works, to be restituted to Paul Rosenberg. The painting was returned to him on September 25, 1945. For more information on the restitution of Paul Rosenberg’s art collection, see Archives diplomatiques - Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires Étrangères (France), 209SUP/1, Dossier 45.15.
NOTES:
[1] Paul Rosenberg was a Jewish art dealer and collector. He represented and was friends with Georges Braque. According to an April 16, 1957 letter from Rosenberg to Perry T. Rathbone of the MFA in curatorial files, this picture had been in the Rosenbergs’ personal art collection since 1925.
[2] Before World War II, Rosenberg sent a part of his art collection to the United States, and other portions he stored at various locations in France. Rosenberg left France for the United States in June 1940. See Hector Feliciano, The Lost Museum: The Nazi Conspiracy to Steal the World’s Greatest Works of Art, New York, 1997, pp. 65-69.
[3] The ERR was the National Socialist agency responsible for the plundering of art and cultural goods in France. On April 28, 1941, National Socialist forces opened Rosenberg’s bank safe and the contents were inventoried and moved to a second safe in the bank. On September 5, 1941, the paintings in the safe were confiscated by an ERR officer. This painting was given ERR no. PR 86, and arrived at the Musée Jeu de Paume on September 6. The Musée Jeu de Paume was used as a storage facility by the ERR for confiscated art. It was inventoried there as “Violette Pflaumen” by Braque. See Bundesarchiv B 323 (TVK)/288, Bd. 19, fol. 405. See also PR 86 in the Database of Art Objects at the Jeu de Paume (www.errproject.org).
[4] On July 5, 1944, the painting was packed in preparation to be shipped by train from the Musée Jeu de Paume to Nikolsburg on August 1, 1944. The train was delayed and eventually apprehended by the French Resistance and Allied forces on August 27 in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a suburb of Paris. See Bundesarchiv B 323 (TVK)/303, Bd. 1/2, fol. 6 and Feliciano 1997 (see above, note 2), p. 165.
[5] The Commission de Récupération Artistique was a public body of the French Ministry of Education created on November 24, 1944, responsible for returning artworks and books plundered by National Socialist forces during the Occupation of France.
[6] On September 14, 1945, the Tribunel de Paix de 1er Arondissement de Paris issued a judgement for this painting, among other works, to be restituted to Paul Rosenberg. The painting was returned to him on September 25, 1945. For more information on the restitution of Paul Rosenberg’s art collection, see Archives diplomatiques - Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires Étrangères (France), 209SUP/1, Dossier 45.15.
Copyright© 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.