Georges Braque (Argenteuil 1882-Paris 1963)

He was a great French painter and sculptor considered, together with Pablo Picasso, to be the progenitor of Cubism. He grew up in Le Havre and attended evening classes at the School of Fine Arts from 1897 to 1899. He then moved to Paris where he attended the Académie Humbert. In 1906 he joined Fauvism and the following year exhibited his fauve works at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris. His first solo exhibition was held in 1908 at Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler's gallery in Paris. From 1909 Braque and Pablo Picasso developed Cubism together and their artistic collaboration lasted until 1914, when Braque was called back to the front. After the First World War, during which he was wounded, he worked independently and developed a more personal style, characterised by vivid colours and textured surfaces and, after his move to the Normandy coast, the reappearance of the human figure. He also portrayed still lifes, interior views and seascapes.