Mandora
- Artist: Georges Braque
- Date: 1909–10
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 711 x 559 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
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About this artwork
This is the “Mandora” by Georges Braque, painted in 1909‑10. The canvas shows a small lute‑like instrument, a mandora, rendered in the fractured, geometric style of early Cubism. Braque loved musical instruments, both because they surrounded him and because their shapes offered a playful challenge for his still‑life concept. In this piece the instrument is broken into planes and angles, giving a sense of rhythm that echoes the music itself. The painting is one of four small still lifes featuring instruments from that winter, and it exemplifies Braque’s move toward spatial depth by fragmenting objects before placing them in space. The work is an oil on canvas, a hallmark of his early experimentation with color and form.
See it in person
Mandora is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
