Georges BraqueMigration. Lettera Amorosa - Symbols of Love. 1963.

( €8,750  $9,500 )

Original lithograph in seven colours drawn with pen and brush. 1960-63. Signed in pencil.  

Numbered in pencil from the signed edition of 75. (There were also a total of 25 signed proofs.). Drawn and printed at the Atelier Mourlot, Paris, 1962-63. Issued in the series:

‘Lettera Amorosa’ (Symbols of Love). Issued by Engleberts, Geneva 1963.

(There was also an unsigned edition of 200 issued for the album).

Reference: Dora Vallier Braque L’Oeuvre Gravé no 187/3.

Provenance: French Collection.

Beautiful impression with the delicate but glowing colours perfect. On pale cream wove Arches paper. Excellent condition. Sheet: 38 x 28 cm. Image c. 24 x 18 cm.

In the era of the early 1960’s imagery of soaring birds in free flight became a central motif of Braque’s art. It symbolised for him the desire to express the essence of liberation and freedom which spread through society in the aftermath of the Second War. ‘Migration’, here, is a beautiful example of this new poetic feeling in Braque’s art – poetry expressed through line and colour.

‘Migration’ is one of the best known and most beautiful compositions in the ‘Lettera Amorosa’ series, compositions inspired by the writings of the poet René Char. Char had first established his friendship with Braque in the 1930’s after he moved north from Provence to Paris, attracted by the surrealist ideas of André Breton. In that circle, besides Braque he also established lifelong contact with Miró and Picasso. Especially in the post-war period Braque felt that Char’s words echoed his own feelings.

At a meeting in 1958 at Braque’s studio in the Rue du Douanier Braque, Char, the printer Mourlot and the Swiss publisher Engelberts all enthusiastically agreed that, inspired by Char’s love poetry, Braque would draw a series of colour lithographs. The project took from 1958 until 1963 to be completed. Braque’s beautiful images were largely completed in 1960 but publication was delayed.

This series of prints, in which ‘Migration’ is one of the highlights, has become one of the most admired in Braque’s post-war print oeuvre.