Nature morte II (Still Life II) 1912

This is 'Nature morte II (Still Life II)', an etching by Georges Braque. Made with fine lines, the composition has a way of falling apart, and coming together again. Looking closely, you can see how Braque uses cross-hatching to build up tone, giving depth to the image. It's a real material process, digging into that plate, wiping it down, pressing it and so on. Look at how the lines around the centre seem to vibrate! It's like he’s trying to catch the feeling of seeing something, more than describing what it looks like. Braque’s contemporary Picasso was also preoccupied with still life, but I think Braque brings a certain… lightness to it. I love the fact that the term 'still life' is 'nature morte' - dead nature - in French. This piece makes me think of Morandi's still life paintings, which take a similarly pared back approach. Both artists find a kind of quiet profundity through repetition.