Juan Gris
Born – Madrid, Spain 1887
Died – Paris, France 1927
Juan Gris studied in Madrid before settling in Paris in 1906. Here he worked as an illustrator for French magazines. Meeting Picasso was a significant turning point and, from 1912, Gris became a leading Cubist. His work developed from the objective study of simplified, precise forms based on everyday items. His work was more calculated and intellectual than that of either Picasso or Braque. Like them, he collaged paper materials to represent their original function, not simply for their textural qualities. His logical approach was summarized in his own words, “Cézanne turns a bottle into a cylinder…I make a bottle – a particular bottle – out of a cylinder.” During the last part of his career, he expressed an increasing preoccupation with colour. He also worked as a book illustrator, designed sets for Diaghilev and made several polychrome – multicoloured – sculptures. The Bay seems to conform to Gris’s notion of himself as a classical painter. The harmonious composition is set on a stage; the curtain is drawn aside to reveal a selection of carefully delineated objects in a well-ordered combination of curves and straight lines.
Masterpieces:
- The Chessboard
- Still Life with Guitar and Clarinet
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.