Femme Assise (Seated Woman)
Georges Braque (1882-1963), Femme Assise (Seated Woman), etching, 1934, signed in pencil lower right and numbered (12/50) lower left. Reference: Vallier 24, only state. From the edition of 50 published by Maeght, Paris, in 1953 (only a few trial proofs were printed in 1934). Printed by Visat, Paris. In very good condition apart from pale light and mat stain, on Arches wove paper, the full sheet with deckle edges, 9 1/2 x 7 1/8, the sheet 17 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches. Archival mounting with window mat.
A fine impression, with good contrast among the various cross-hatching and linear patterns.
In this classic cubist composition of a girl playing a guitar Braque displays a panoply of textures and patterns, apparently working the plate to a near breaking point in pure etching. In doing this he follows a long tradition of printmaking, from Callot and Hollar to Meryon and Whistler, and then even to his cubist colleague Picasso.
The etching is similar to a Braque painting called Femme a la Guitare (Girl with a Guitar); this is shown in the Maeght volume Peintures de Braque, 1928-35, p. 59.