The companion volume to the eponymous exhibition at the Palazzo della Ragione in Mantua (22 March – 14 July 2019), which presents roughly 150 works by Braque produced principally in the period between the wars and immediately after WWII. The exhibition focuses on Braque’s later works, characterised by a fantastic alphabet comprising a mere handful of letters. Seen through the lens of this prevailing cipher, the figurative arts and poetry alike assume similar morphological features, while themes are replicated and perfected in an unceasing search for the ultimate, definitive simplicity. Which is why his artist’s book, amply represented in the exhibition, assumes such overwhelming importance for this creative period of Braque’s life. The catalogue also reconstructs Braque’s relationship with other artists of his generation and, indeed, of the younger generation, including Duchamp.

The catalogue includes essays by Michele Dantini and Markus Müller, together with other writings, many published in Italian for the first time, by Georges Braque, Michael Baxandall, Louis Aragon, Eugenio Montale and many others.

Book design studio Leonardo Sonnoli