José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic genre

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

, his works are among the movement's most distinctive.

Life

Gris was born in

and later studied engineering at the Madrid School of Arts and Sciences. There, from 1902 to 1904, he contributed drawings to local periodicals. From 1904 to 1905, he studied painting with the academic artist José Moreno Carbonero. It was in 1905 that José Victoriano González adopted the more distinctive name Juan Gris. In 1909, Lucie Belin (1891–1942)—Gris' wife—gave birth to Georges Gonzalez-Gris (1909–2003), the artist's only child. The three lived at the Bateau-Lavoir, 13 Rue Ravignan, Paris, from 1909 to 1911. In 1912 Gris met Charlotte Augusta Fernande Herpin (1894–1983), also known as Josette. Late 1913 or early 1914 they lived together at the Bateau-Lavoir until 1922. Josette Gris was Juan Gris' second companion and unofficial wife.

Career

In 1906, after he sold all his possessions, he moved to Paris and became friends with the poets

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Poland, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...

, Max Jacob, and artists

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

and

Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...

.''Handbook, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection'', University of California, 1983, p. 26, 83 He submitted darkly humorous illustrations to journals such as the anarchist satirical magazine '' L'Assiette au Beurre'', and also '' Le Rire'', '' Le Charivari'', and '' Le Cri de Paris''. In Paris, Gris followed the lead of Metzinger and another friend and fellow countryman,

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

. Gris began to paint seriously in 1911 (when he gave up working as a satirical cartoonist), developing at this time a personal Cubist style. In ''A Life of Picasso'', John Richardson writes that Jean Metzinger's 1911 work, '' Le goûter (Tea Time)'', persuaded Juan Gris of the importance of mathematics in painting. Gris exhibited for the first time at the 1912

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...

(a painting entitled ''Hommage à Pablo Picasso''). "He appears with two styles", writes art historian Peter Brooke, "In one of them a grid structure appears that is clearly reminiscent of the ''Goûter'' and of Metzinger's later work in 1912." In the other, Brooke continues, "the grid is still present but the lines are not stated and their continuity is broken. Their presence is suggested by the heavy, often triangular, shading of the angles between them... Both styles are distinguished from the work of Picasso and Braque by their clear, rational and measurable quality." Although Gris regarded Picasso as a teacher, Gertrude Stein wrote in '' The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas'' that "Juan Gris was the only person whom Picasso wished away". Juan Gris - Portrait of Pablo Picasso - Google Art Project

Juan Gris - Portrait of Pablo Picasso - Google Art Project

In 1912, Gris exhibited at the ''Exposició d'art cubista'', Galeries Dalmau in Barcelona, the first declared group exhibition of Cubism worldwide;Mark Antliff and Patricia Leighten, ''A Cubism Reader, Documents and Criticism, 1906-1914'', University of Chicago Press, 2008, pp. 293–295 the gallery Der Sturm in Berlin; the ''Salon de la Société Normande de Peinture Moderne'' in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

; and the Salon de la Section d'Or in Paris. Gris, in that same year, signed a contract that gave Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler exclusive rights to his work. At first Gris painted in the style of '' Analytical Cubism'', a term he himself later coined, Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Laurence King Publishing, p. 784. but after 1913 he began his conversion to ''Synthetic Cubism'', of which he became a steadfast interpreter, with extensive use of

papier collé ''Papier collé'' (French: ''pasted paper'' or ''paper cut outs'') is a type of collage and collaging technique in which paper is adhered to a flat mount. The difference between collage and papier collé is that the latter refers exclusively to th ...

or,

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

. Unlike Picasso and Braque, whose Cubist works were practically

monochromatic A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, mon ...

, Gris painted with bright harmonious colors in daring, novel combinations in the manner of his friend Matisse. Gris exhibited with the painters of the Puteaux Group in the Salon de ''la Section d'Or'' in 1912.Cooper, Philip. ''Cubism''. London: Phaidon, 1995, p. 56. His preference for clarity and order influenced the Purist style of Amédée Ozenfant and Charles Edouard Jeanneret (

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

), and made Gris an important exemplar of the post-war " return to order" movement. In 1915 he was painted by his friend,

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...

. In November 1917 he made one of his few sculptures, the polychrome plaster ''Harlequin''.

Crystal Cubism

Gris's works from late 1916 through 1917 exhibit a greater simplification of geometric structure, a blurring of the distinction between objects and setting, between subject matter and background. The oblique overlapping planar constructions, tending away from equilibrium, can best be seen in ''Woman with Mandolin, after Corot'' (September 1916) and in its epilogue, ''Portrait of Josette Gris'' (October 1916; Museo Reina Sofia).Christopher Green, ''Cubism and its Enemies, Modern Movements and Reaction in French Art, 1916–1928'', Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1987, pp. 13–47. The clear-cut underlying geometric framework of these works seemingly controls the finer elements of the compositions; the constituent components, including the small planes of the faces, become part of the unified whole. Though Gris certainly had planned the representation of his chosen subject matter, the abstract armature serves as the starting point. The geometric structure of Juan Gris's Crystal period is already palpable in ''Still Life before an Open Window, Place Ravignan'' (June 1915;

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

). The overlapping elemental planar structure of the composition serves as a foundation to flatten the individual elements onto a unifying surface, foretelling the shape of things to come. In 1919 and particularly 1920, artists and critics began to write conspicuously about this 'synthetic' approach, and to assert its importance in the overall scheme of advanced Cubism.

Designer and theorist

In 1924, he designed ballet sets and costumes for

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario an ...

and the famous

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...

. Gris articulated most of his aesthetic theories during 1924 and 1925. He delivered his definitive lecture, ''Des possibilités de la peinture'', at the Sorbonne in 1924. Major Gris exhibitions took place at the Galerie Simon in Paris and the Galerie Flechtheim in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1923 and at the Galerie Flechtheim in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

in 1925.

Death

After October 1925, Gris was frequently ill with bouts of

uremia Uremia is the condition of having high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess in the blood of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, which ...

and cardiac problems. He died of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

Boulogne-sur-Seine Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, located from the centre of Paris. It is a subprefecture of the Hau ...

(Paris) on 11 May 1927, at the age of 40, leaving a wife, Josette, and a son, Georges.

Art market

The top auction price for a Gris work is $57.1 million (£34.8 million), achieved for his 1915 painting '' Nature morte à la nappe à carreaux (Still Life with Checked Tablecloth)''. This surpassed previous records of $20.8 million for his 1915 still life ''Livre, pipe et verres'', $28.6 million for the 1913 artwork ''Violon et guitare'' and $31.8 million for ''The musician's table'', now in the Met.

Selected works

* ''Violin Hanging on a Wall (Le violon accroché)'', (1913). Guggenheim Museum, New York * ''Pears and Grapes on a Table'', (autumn 1913). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.Juan Gris. ''Pears and grapes on a table''
(or ''Still life with pears''), (1913). (Artwork in exhibitions information since 1947). ''artdesigncafe''. Retrieved 5 April 2019 * ''Bottle of Rum and Newspaper (Bouteille de rhum et journal)'', (June 1914). Guggenheim Museum, New York * ''Cherries (Les cerises)'', (1915). Guggenheim Museum, New York * ''Fruit Dish on a Checkered Tablecloth (Compotier et nappe à carreaux)'', (November 1917). Guggenheim Museum, New York

Gallery

File:Juan Gris, 1911, Maisons à Paris (Houses in Paris), oil on canvas, 52.4 x 34.2 cm, Guggenheim Museum.jpg, ''Maisons à Paris'' (''Houses in Paris''), 1911,

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...

, New York File:Juan Legua MET DT4462.jpg, '' Juan Legua'', 1911,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York File:Juan Gris - Guitar and Pipe.jpg, ''Guitar and Pipe,'' 1913, Dallas Museum of Art, Texas File:Juan Gris - Glass of Beer and Playing Cards.jpg, ''Glass of Beer and Playing Cards'', 1913,

Columbus Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collec ...

, Ohio File:Juan Gris - Violin and Checkerboard.jpg, ''Violin and Checkerboard'', 1913, Private collection File:Juan Gris - La bouteille d'anis - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Bottle of Anís del Mono'', 1914, Queen Sofia Museum, Madrid File:Fantômas - Juan Gris.JPG, ''Fantômas'', 1915,

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, Washington, D.C. File:Juan gris, la colazione, 1915.JPG, '' The Breakfast'', 1915,

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...

, Paris File:Newspaper and Fruit Dish Juan Gris.jpeg, ''Newspaper and Fruit Dish'', 1916, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT File:Juan Gris, Glass and Checkerboard, c. 1917, NGA 166491.jpg, ''Glass and Checkerboard'', c. 1917,

File:Juan Gris, 1917, Compotier et nappe à carreaux, oil on wood panel, 80.6 x 53.9 cm, Guggenheim Museum.jpg, ''Compotier et nappe à carreaux'', 1917,

, New York File:Juan Gris.jpg, ''The Guitar (La Guitarra)'', 1918, Fundación Telefónica at Queen Sofia Museum, Madrid File:Juan Gris - Still Life with Fruit Dish and Mandolin.jpg, ''Still Life with Fruit Dish and Mandolin'', 1919, Private collection, Paris File:Juan Gris, 1919, Arlequin à la guitare, oil on canvas, 116 x 89 cm, Musée National d'Art Moderne.jpg, ''Harlequin with Guitar'', 1919,

, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris File:Le Canigou Juan Gris.jpeg, ''Le Canigou'', 1921,

Albright–Knox Art Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum located adjacent to Delaware Park, Buffalo, New York, United States. The museum shows modern art and contemporary art. It is directly opposite Buff ...

, Buffalo, New York File:Le Tapis bleu.jpg, ''The blue carpet'', 1925, Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou, Paris File:The Painter's Window Juan Gris.jpeg, ''The Painter's Window'', 1925,

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of modern art, ...

, Maryland

Notes

References

* Cowling, Elizabeth; Mundy, Jennifer. 1990.
On Classic Ground: Picasso, Léger, de Chirico and the New Classicism 1910–1930
'. London: Tate Gallery. * Green, Christopher.
Gris, Juan.
''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press. Web. * Gris, Juan. 1998. ''Juan Gris: peintures et dessins, 1887–1927''. arseille Musées de Marseille. . (French language) *

External links

Juan Gris, Joconde, Portail des collections des musées de France

Juan Gris, Culture.gouv.fr, le site du Ministère de la culture – base Mémoire

– Links to Gris' works
The Athenaeum
– Extensive list and images of Gris' works
Juan Gris in Artfacts.Net
See actual exhibitions and related galleries and museums for Juan Gris *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gris, Juan 1887 births 1927 deaths Spanish cubist artists Artists from Madrid 20th-century Spanish painters 20th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Spanish collage artists People of Montmartre Deaths from kidney failure