The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

The Port of l'Estaque, the Pier

1906

Georges Braque

(French, 1882–1963)
France, early 20th century
oil on canvas
Unframed: 59.7 x 73 cm (23 1/2 x 28 3/4 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.104
© Artists Right Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde

Did You Know?

Inspired by the light and atmosphere of Port of l'Estaque, Braque wrote, “It’s there that I felt all the elation. All the joy, welling up inside me.”

Description

Early in his career, Georges Braque was a member of the French Fauves (“wild beasts”), a group of artists active between 1905 and 1908. Their principal aim was to liberate color from its descriptive role and instead to use it for purely expressive purposes. Braque painted this marine view during his first visit to the south of France when he was 24 years old. His excitement is felt in the undulating hills and short, powerful brushstrokes, often applied in complementary color contrasts.
  • (Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris, France, no. K1141)
    Wilhelm Uhde [1874–1947], Paris, France
    about 1938
    Possibly Paul Roemer, Berlin, Germany
    1950s
    Dr. A. Fuchs, Berlin, Germany
    possibly by descent in the family
    Private German Collector
    December 9, 1997
    (Christie’s, London, December 9, 1997, lot 24, sold to a private collector)
    before 2013
    (C&M Arts, New York, NY, sold to Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley)
    before 2013–2020
    Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 According to George Isarlov, Georges Braque (Paris: J. Corti, 1932), p. 14.
    2 According to the 1997 Christie’s sale catalogue.
    3 A label on back of the painting notes, “Paul Roemer, Bellevuestr. 10, Berlin W9 59 Braque”. Paul Roemer (1878-1945) was an art dealer in Berlin. Roemer’s gallery was located at 10 Bellevuestrasse, Lützowplatz, from 1938 to 1939. 
    4 According to the 1997 Christie’s sale catalogue. A label on the back of the painting gives the name “Dr. A. Fuchs” as the lender to the Haus der Kunst Fauves-Expressionisten exhibition, cat. no. 8. 
  • Isarlov, George. Georges Braque. Paris: José Corti, 1932. Reproduced: no. 14
    Zervos, Christian. "Georges Braque." Cahiers d' Art VIII (1933): 1-15. Reproduced: p. 10
    Cooper, Douglas. Georges Braque; Prädikat des ICOM: "agree." München, Germany: Franzis-Druck, 1963. Reproduced: no. 7
    Palais de Beaulieu (Lausanne, Suisse). Chefs d'oeuvres des collections suisses: de Manet à Picasso. Lausanne: Skira, 1964. Reproduced: no. 162
    Hoog, Michel et al. Le Fauvisme français et les débuts de l'expressionnisme allemand. Paris: Musée Nationale d'Art Moderne, 1966. Mentioned: P. 35; Reproduced: P. 43, no.8
    Pouillon, Nadine and Isabelle Monod-Fontaine. Braque: œuvres de Georges Braque, 1882-1963. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée national d'art moderne, 1982. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 24-25
    Freeman, Judi. The Fauve Landscape. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990. Reproduced: p. 45, pl. 52
    "A Historic Gift: Highlights from the Keithley Gift," Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine (Summer 2020). Mention and reproduction pp. 6-7.
    “A Historic Gift. Longtime CMA supporters Joseph and Nancy Keithley give 114 works, the largest gift in more than 60 years.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 60, no. 3 (Summer 2020): Cover, 6-9. Reproduced: P. 6; Mentioned: P. 7.
    Griswold, William M. “Recent Acquisitions (2013-20) at the Cleveland Museum of Art.” Burlington Magazine 163, no. 1414 (January 2021): 93-104. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 98, no. 9; mentioned: P. 93
    Robinson, William H. "Modern European Painting." In The Keithley Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art, edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, 132-139, 142-149. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 142-143; Mentioned: p. 257-258
    Brown, Heather Lemonedes. “Color, Sensation, and Memory: Themes in the Keithleys’ gift and promised gift.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 62, no. 3 (2022): Cover, 4-7. Reproduced: P. 4; Mentioned: P. 4, 5 archive.org
    "Exhibitions: Transformative Gift." Art & Antiques XLV, no. 10 (November 2022): 48-53. Reproduced: p. 51
  • Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
    Le Fauvism francais et les debuts de l'Expressionisme allemande. Musee Nationale d'Art Modern, Paris, France (January – March 1966); Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (March – May 1966).
    Chefs d'Oeuvres des Collections Suisses. Palais de Beaulieu, Lausanne, Switzerland (1964).
    Georges Braque. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (October – December 1963)
    (Possibly) Salon des Independents. Paris, France (1907). (possibly no. 723 or 725)
  • {{cite web|title=The Port of l'Estaque, the Pier|url=false|author=Georges Braque|year=1906|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.104