Original Poster Georges Braque L'oiseau - Royal Scottish Academy, 1956 (Arch Paper) - Mourlot

This is an original five-colour lithographic poster designed by Georges Braque and printed by Mourlot Frères in 1956 for an exhibition of his work at the Royal Scottish Academy during the Edinburgh Festival — one of the most prestigious cultural events in Europe, and a landmark moment in the international recognition of Braque's late career. The printing was supervised and directed by Braque himself, a detail that elevates this poster beyond mere promotional object into the realm of original graphic work. It is catalogued as Sauret n°9 in the definitive reference on Mourlot's posters, with a total edition of just 700 impressions — split equally between London and Edinburgh.

Georges Braque (1882–1963), co-founder of Cubism alongside Picasso and one of the towering figures of 20th-century art, was in the mid-1950s at the height of his late mastery. His subject here is the bird — the motif that had come to define his final decades. When Braque was commissioned to paint one of the ceilings of the Louvre in 1952, he dedicated it entirely to birds in flight. For Braque, the bird was not merely a decorative motif: it was a philosophical one — a symbol of freedom, of the soul's passage, of form dissolving into space. The five-colour lithographic rendering by Mourlot's master printer Henri Deschamps captures the luminous, hovering quality of Braque's birds with extraordinary fidelity.

Mourlot Frères printed only thirteen Braque posters across the entirety of their collaboration — making each one a rare and significant object. This poster, with its tight edition, its direct artistic supervision, and its prestigious institutional context, is among the most collectible of them all.

The poster is in overall good condition — grade A- — and is presented unframed, ready for the wall it deserves.

A rare and documented piece — Braque's most iconic motif, in five colours, supervised by the artist himself, for the festival that brought him to Britain.