Oil on canvas
Before Braque began painting the landscape of L'Estaque, in southern France, the town had been a favorite subject for Paul Cézanne, whose 1907 memorial exhibition in Paris had a great impact on the younger artist. This painting makes visible Cézanne's influence on Braque's developing later Cubist style. Braque employs Cézanne's progressive gradations of color and flattened, inaccessible spaces. As Cézanne often did, Braque left an area of canvas unpainted, in the limb of a tree. Road near L'Estaque looks forward to Cubism in its significantly restricted palette of colors, crowded space, and sharp geometric forms.
2011.
Provenance Research Project
This work is included in the Provenance Research Project, which investigates the ownership history of works in MoMA's collection.
The artist; acquired by Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1884-1979), Paris, before 1914 [1]; seized during the war by the French government as enemy property and sold through Hôtel Drouot, Paris, November 17-18, 1921 [2]; Galerie Simon (Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler), Paris [3]. Hugo Simons, (1892-1958), Düsseldorf/The Hague/Montreal, by 1933 [4]; acquired by Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York, by 1943 [5]; sold by exchange to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1943.
[1] Per Nicole Worms de Romilly and Jean Laude, Braque: Cubism 1907-1914, Paris: Maeght, 1982, no. 17.
[2] Tableaux, aquarelles, gouaches & dessins. [2nd sale of Kahnweiler collection]. Paris: Hôtel Drouot, November 17-November 18, 1921 (no. 24: La route de l'Estaque).
[3] Label information in collection files, The Department of Painting and Sculpture. Possibly bought back at auction. Reproduced in Maurice Raynal, Georges Braque, Rome: Valori plastici, 1924, n.p. (Photo Galerie Simon).
[4] Collection files, The Department of Painting and Sculpture.
[5] Collection files, The Department of Painting and Sculpture.
Provenance research is a work in progress, and is frequently updated with new information. If you have any questions or information to provide about the listed works, please email [email protected] or write to:
Provenance Research Project
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019
Explore more
Cubism
An artistic style invented in Paris during the first decade of the 20th century, Cubism was soon adopted by an international network of artists who sought to create a new art for a new century.
Learn more →
Hue
A particular gradation of color; a shade or tint. Hue can also simply mean “color.
Learn more →
A Cubist Salon
Gallery 503What does Cubism look like? For the international network of artists who first engaged with this movement, it was a work in progress.
Learn more →
From MoMA Design Store
Installation views
We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.
Licensing
Artwork or archival images
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
Audio and film clips
MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.
Text from a publication or the archives
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.