The Mandola - Georges Braque
Archival giclée
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Description
A seminal work of Analytic Cubism by Georges Braque, featuring a mandola deconstructed into geometric planes and a monochromatic, earthy palette.
The Mandola, painted by Georges Braque in 1910, represents a period of intense experimentation within the Analytic Cubist movement. During this time, Braque and Pablo Picasso worked in close proximity, systematically deconstructing traditional perspective to represent objects from multiple viewpoints simultaneously. The subject, a mandola, is fractured into a series of overlapping planes and geometric facets that merge with the surrounding space.
Braque employs a restricted palette of ochre, tan, and muted brown tones. This choice of colour minimises emotional distraction, allowing the viewer to focus entirely on the structural arrangement of the composition. The instrument is not depicted as a solid, singular object but rather as a collection of lines and shapes that suggest its form through rhythm and repetition. The sound hole and the neck of the instrument emerge from the dense network of planes, yet they remain tethered to the overall grid-like structure of the canvas.
This work demonstrates the shift away from representational accuracy toward a conceptual approach to painting. By breaking the object into its constituent parts, Braque invites the viewer to reconstruct the image mentally. The brushwork is controlled and precise, maintaining a consistent texture across the surface. The composition avoids a single vanishing point, opting instead for a shallow, compressed space that pushes the subject toward the front of the picture plane. This approach remains a defining characteristic of the early twentieth-century avant-garde, reflecting a desire to analyse the nature of vision itself.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
The Mandola - Georges Braque
Artist Biography
Georges Braque
He grew up in Argenteuil and Le Havre, the son and grandson of house painters. He apprenticed as a decorative painter, learning to imitate wood grain and marble, techniques he later used in his Cubist papiers colles. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and exhibited with the Fauves in 1906, painting bright, loose landscapes influenced by Matisse.
Everything changed when he saw Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon in 1907. He went to L'Estaque that summer and painted landscapes that broke the scenery into geometric facets, which is what a critic called 'cubes.' The name stuck. Between 1908 and 1914 he and Picasso worked so closely that their paintings from this period are sometimes difficult to tell apart. They showed each other everything. They finished each other's ideas.
The war separated them. Braque was severely wounded at Carency in 1915: a head injury that left him temporarily blind and required trepanning. He did not paint for over a year. When he returned to work, the collaboration with Picasso was over. They remained on good terms but never worked together again.
His post-war paintings are quieter, more resolved, less competitive. The Studio series, large paintings of the interior of his Normandy studio with birds flying through the space, occupied him through the 1950s. He died in 1963, at eighty-one. Picasso outlived him by ten years.
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