The Blue Mandolin

Isn’t this an absolute honey?

One of the very best of Braque’s between the wars cubists still live…

The colours may be subdued but the mood is joyously effervescent.

I always think of Egyptian wall art when I look at cubist paintings. The Egyptian painter depicted each part of the body at its most representative, eg profiles of noses and feet. Those images have become so much part of our cultural subconscious that we hardly find it strange.

The same holds true in this picture, the guitar, eg, shown from the front, so that there is no doubt at all as to what it is.

And how about our delightful, slightly wacky lady musician. Isn’t she a hoot!
This what Braques said:
Nature simulates a feeling and I translate this feeling into art.
I would like to reveal the absolute in a woman, not just her outer body.

The Blue Mandolin by Georges Braque

*Listen to Marilyn Lightstone read this text: