Fruit, Glass, and Mandolin 1938

Georges Braque made "Fruit, Glass, and Mandolin" with oil on canvas, sometime in the first half of the 20th century. It’s a still life, but not still, you know? More like, still becoming. I love how Braque doesn’t try to hide the making. The surface is scrubby and thin, almost like fresco. You can see the canvas texture coming through, which makes it feel really honest. Look at the way the forms kind of bump up against each other, like how the fruit and the mandolin are sharing the same space, but not really touching. There's a real tension there. I love the little curlicues at the bottom right. They look like musical notes, or maybe just doodles. They're so playful and free, it’s like he’s saying, “Hey, this is all just a game.” It reminds me a bit of Juan Gris, who was also playing with these fractured forms and muted colors. It's like they were all having a conversation with each other, figuring out what painting could be.