Tag Archives: Georges Braque

Anyone for Phillips Staff Uniforms?

Posted on by
Braque Birds in painting, fashion and sculpture

(Left) Georges Braque, Bird, 1956, Oil on canvas; 18 x 19 1/2 in.; 45.72 x 49.53 cm.. Acquired 1966. (Center) Yves Saint Laurent, Wedding dress, Tribute to Georges Braque, haute couture collection, Spring-Summer 1988. White tulle, white cotton piqué appliqué “doves.” ©Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent, Paris / Photo A. Guirkinger. (Right) Pierre Bourdelle's sculpture for the Phillips Collection Sant Building based on Braque's bird. Photo: Sarah Osborne Bender

My colleague and fellow fashion-lover Colleen Hennessey alerted me to this stunning wedding dress by Yves Saint Laurent, currently featured in the retrospective of the designer’s career at the Denver Art Museum. The dress from the Spring-Summer collection for 1988 is a tribute to Georges Braque and features his iconic birds, as found in the Phillips Collection and the inspiration for the Pierre Bourdelle sculpture on the front of our building. The shape has also been used for museum letterhead, library bookplates, and visitor pins. I vote for adopting this as a staff uniform.

Through the Microscope: ‘Pot d’Etain et Assiette de Fruits’ by Georges Braque, 1944

Posted on by

Selected views of the unvarnished paint surface of Braque's small still life seen through the microscope at 20x magnification. Examining a painting through the microscope can be like looking into another world. The surface of this picture, in particular, resembles a Martian landscape, with craters in the green paint (formed by air bubbles in the wet paint) and 'boulders' of sand mixed throughout. In reality, the microscope is an important aid in learning about an artist's materials and working methods as well as understanding an artwork's state of preservation. 'Pot d'Etain et Assiette de Fruits' is part of the permanent collection and is now on view at the Phillips. Photos: Patricia Favero

 

Phillips Flashback: June 1921 and 1959

Posted on by

Marjorie and Duncan Phillips stand with Georges Braque's The Philodendron, 1954. Photo: Naomi Savage

June was a good month for Duncan and Marjorie’s partnership at least twice in their years together. In June 1921, the young couple visit Marjorie’s grandmother, Mrs. William R. Beal, at her home on the Hudson above Newburgh, New York, and become engaged to be married.

And in June 1959, together they receive the Award of Merit for lifetime devotion to art, bestowed by the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. In his acceptance speech, Duncan pays tribute to Marjorie’s work:

We are happy to be honored jointly – to have our partnership in the Collection recognized. I am always eager to acknowledge my indebtedness to my partner’s creative perceptions as a professional painter.