A sign nailed to the wall of this café scene advertises rosé wine for “30 c[entimes]” a glass. By stenciling the missing “É” to the far left of “ROS,” Braque transformed “rosé” into “eros” (erotic love), a wry allusion to how wine and romantic dalliance often go hand-in-hand. Key to Braque’s Still Life with Dice is the trompe-l’oeil nail at top center, which along with its shadow creates and defines a depth of field that challenges the resolute flatness of other areas, such as the stenciled letters and numbers.
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Inscription: Signed (verso, lower right, in pencil): G Braque
Marking: watermark: CATEL & FARCY with countermark of CF and caduceus in crest
[Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris, 1912–14; inv. no. 879; sequestered Kahnweiler stock, December 12, 1914–23; fourth Kahnweiler sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 7, 1923, no. 51, sold for Fr 280, to an unidentified bidder along with nine other works]; André Lhote, Paris (1923–55; sold in 1955 to Marlborough); [Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., London, 1955; sold on October 10, 1955 to Cooper]; Douglas Cooper, Château de Castille, Argilliers, France (1955–d.1984; estate no. DC 52/51; his bequest to McCarty Cooper); his partner and adopted son, William McCarty Cooper, London (1984–89; to Churchglade Ltd. (William McCarty Cooper), Switzerland; sold in February 1989 to Lauder); Leonard A. Lauder, New York (1989–2013; transferred on April 8, 2013 to the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust); The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust, New York (2013–16; gift to MMA)
London. Tate Gallery. "The Essential Cubism, 1907–1920: Braque, Picasso & their friends," April 27–July 10, 1983, extended to July 31, 1983, no. 47 (as summer 1912, lent by a private collection).
Kunstmuseum Basel. "Douglas Cooper und die Meister des Kubismus," November 22, 1987–January 17, 1988, no. 4 (as summer 1912. lent by the Douglas Cooper Collection [Owned by Churchglade Ltd.]).
London. Tate Gallery. "Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism," February 3–April 4, 1988, no. 4.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Picasso, Braque, Léger, Gris: Drawings from the Douglas Cooper Collection," June 16–July 31, 1988, no catalogue.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism," September 24, 1989–January 16, 1990, unnumbered cat. (p. 214; as "Still Life with Dice: 'Ros'" [early 1912], lent by a private collection).
Houston. Museum of Fine Arts. "Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism," October 14–December 30, 1990, no. 4 (as summer 1912, lent by a private collection).
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism," January 31–April 21, 1991, no. 4.
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. "Magie der Zahl in der Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts," February 1–May 19, 1997, no. 1.3 (as 1912, lent by a private collection).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection," October 20, 2014–February 16, 2015, no. 7.
John Richardson. G. Braque. Milan, 1960, p. 17 (erroneously as pl. XII), unpaginated (list of plates), pl. XIII, as 1912, in a private collection, France.
John Richardson. G. Braque. Greenwich, Conn., 1961, p. 17, unpaginated (list of illustrations), pl. 13, as 1912.
Nicole Worms de Romilly and Jean Laude. [Catalogue de l'œuvre de Georges Braque]. Vol. [1], Le Cubisme, fin 1907–1914. [Paris], 1982, p. 275, no. 130, ill. p. 160, as "Nature morte aux dès 30ᶜ," 1912.
Douglas Cooper and Gary Tinterow. The Essential Cubism: Braque, Picasso & their friends, 1907–1920. Exh. cat., Tate Gallery. London, 1983, p. 124, no. 47, ill. p. 125.
"'True Cubism' at the Tate." Cubism: Recovery of a Tradition no. 1 (Summer 1983), ill., as summer 1912.
Dorothy M. Kosinski. Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Basel. Basel, 1987, pp. 70, 198, no. 4, ill. p. 66.
William Rubin, ed. Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1989, ill. p. 214, (German ed., 1990, p. 329, revised dating as [summer 1911], fig. 206; French ed., 1990, and Spanish ed., 1991, p. 328, revised dating as [summer 1911], ill. p. 208).
Dorothy M. Kosinski. Picasso, Braque, Gris, Léger: Douglas Cooper Collecting Cubism. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts. Houston, 1990, p. 60, no. 4.
Pepe Karmel. "Appendix 2: Notes on the Dating of Works." Picasso and Braque: A Symposium. Ed. Lynn Zelevansky. New York, 1992, p. 331, as "Still Life with Dice: 'Ros'".
Karin von Maur, ed. Magie der Zahl in der Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts. Exh. cat., Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Ostfildern bei Stuttgart, 1997, p. 247, no. 1.3, ill. p. 11.
"Objects Promised to the Museum during the Year 2012–2013." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, One Hundred Forty-third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (2013), p. 45, as "Still Life with Dice ('Ros') (Nature morte avec dès ['Ros'])".
Rebecca Rabinow inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 170–71, 173, no. 7, ill. p. 172 (color).
Anna Jozefacka and Luise Mahler inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 246–47, fig. 7 (installation photo, Exh. New York 1989–90).
Written on the verso (lower-left center, in pencil): no. 879 [Galerie Kahnweiler inv. no.]; (lower-left corner, in pencil): 52-51 [Douglas Cooper estate no.] …
The ninth-annual Women and the Critical Eye program featuring a conversation between Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow, who discuss Leonard Lauder's criteria for collecting, including the importance of the "aesthetic wow," rarity, state of conservation, and attention to a work's curriculum vitae.
Georges Braque (French, Argenteuil 1882–1963 Paris)
Sorgues, autumn 1912
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