Fauvism was an art movement from the early 20th century that involved combinations of bright colour, with little else to offset the 'shock'. Braque made use of this approach for several years in the earlier part of his career and tended to concentrate mostly on landscapes and cityscapes which working in this manner. Ports and small harbours featured in a number of his paintings and he seemed to get inspiration from the combination of sea and land, as well as the likelihood of manmade items being present too. In this example it is purely natural, with a flurry of trees lining the bank as he looks down across the sea. In the far background is a similarly bright sky, which reflects some of the tones used elsewhere in the painting. The trees here are created with mainly an attention to their edges, with strokes of colour, and then the solid forms inside are sometimes left fairly pale.

Technically, one area of interest in this scene is the way in which the artist puts together the sea. There are individual dabs of paint which almost remind us of the impressionist or pointlist styles, and the large image of the painting that is included below will help you to see those applications of the brush more clearly. Some will see the work of Matisse here, who himself was a Fauvist of great note. Alternatively, you might also be reminded of the likes of Munich-Schwabing with the Church of St Ursula or Houses in Murnau on Obermarkt from Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky, who also worked on landscapes early on in his career, before shifting to more abstract, theoretical content.

Those who appreciate this lesser-known work from Braque should take the time to study more of his fauvist creations, which came about early on in his career. In all, he was a talented painter whose oeuvre is often unfairly cropped down to his work with Cubism, but there is actually an awful lot of other items to see and enjoy here too.

Port Miou in Detail Georges Braque