Homage to J. S. Bach

Georges Braque · winter 1911-12

This is Homage to J. S. Bach, painted by Georges Braque over the winter of nineteen eleven into nineteen twelve. The stencilled letters spelling Bach's name are among the first passages of real typography in a painting — lettering that belongs to the flat surface, not to the illusion of space behind it.

Medium Oil on canvas · Dimensions 21 1/4 x 28 3/4" (54 x 73 cm) · Credit The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection, acquired through the gift of Leon D. and Debra Black, the gift of William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. J. Hall (by exchange), the Nelson A. Rockefeller Bequest Fund (by exchange), and the Richard S. Zeisler Bequest (by exchange)

Hanging beside it in Gallery 503: Visual Synthesis of the Idea: "War", Dynamism of a Soccer Player

Works like this one elsewhere in the museum: Three Musicians, Crusader Hotel Sauce Pots, Green Violin (Grüne Geige), Guitar

More by Georges Braque here: Man with a Guitar, The Table (Still Life with Fan), Road near L'Estaque, Woman with a Mandolin