The White Tablecloth

Juan Gris prints bring one of Cubism's clearest, most colorful voices into your home. A Spanish painter who made his career in Paris, Gris turned guitars, wine bottles, fruit bowls and newspapers into crisp, carefully balanced compositions. Where many Cubist pictures are nearly monochrome, his use bright, harmonious color. Our collection of fine art prints covers his still lifes, harlequins, Paris street views and landscapes.

About Juan Gris

Juan Gris was born José Victoriano González-Pérez in Madrid on 23 March 1887. He studied engineering at the Madrid School of Arts and Sciences, then from 1904 to 1905 trained in painting with the academic artist José Moreno Carbonero. In 1905 he took the name Juan Gris.

In 1906 he sold his belongings and moved to Paris, settled at the Bateau-Lavoir studios in Montmartre, and followed the lead of his fellow Spaniard Pablo Picasso. His friends included the poet Guillaume Apollinaire and the painters Henri Matisse, Georges Braque and Jean Metzinger. At first he earned a living drawing cartoons for satirical magazines.

Gris began to paint seriously in 1911. In 1912 he showed a painting titled Hommage à Pablo Picasso at the Salon des Indépendants and signed a contract giving the dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler exclusive rights to his work. In the summer of 1913, in Céret in southern France, he began using papier collé, gluing cut paper and newsprint onto his canvases. During the First World War he worked closely with his friend, the painter María Blanchard, and in 1915 Amedeo Modigliani painted his portrait.

In 1924 Gris designed sets and costumes for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and gave a lecture on painting at the Sorbonne. From late 1925 he suffered repeated illness, and he died of kidney failure in Boulogne-sur-Seine, near Paris, on 11 May 1927, aged 40. He left his partner Josette and his son Georges.

Style and Subjects

Gris painted the objects of a café table: guitars, violins, bottles, glasses, fruit bowls, playing cards and the day's newspaper. He breaks them into flat, overlapping planes, then fits the pieces back together on a clear geometric grid. Critics single out the clear, rational quality of the result.

Color is the other giveaway. Picasso's and Braque's Cubist paintings are nearly monochrome, but Gris used bright, harmonious colors, closer to his friend Matisse. Look also for pasted or painted newsprint, a habit from his papier collé years. Beyond still life, he painted harlequins and pierrots, portraits, Paris houses and a few landscapes.

Famous Works

• Portrait of Pablo Picasso (1912), Art Institute of Chicago. His portrait of his fellow Spaniard and early mentor.
• Guitar and Pipe (1913), Dallas Museum of Art. A guitar and pipe fitted into a tight pattern of flat planes.
• Violin Hanging on a Wall (1913), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. A single violin taken apart and reassembled as interlocking planes.
• The Bottle of Anís del Mono (1914), Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid. A Spanish anise bottle set among the shapes of a table.
• Still Life with Checked Tablecloth (1915), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. His record-setting picture at auction, at $57.1 million.
• Fantômas (1915), National Gallery of Art, Washington. Another 1915 table still life.
• Harlequin with Guitar (1919), Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris. A harlequin built from the same clean geometry as his still lifes.
• Le Canigou (1921), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. A later still life named after Mount Canigou in the Pyrenees.

Decorating with Gris Prints

Many Gris still lifes are about food and drink, so Coffeepot, The Pot of Strawberry Jam or Cherries suit a kitchen or dining room. Bottle pictures such as The Bottle of Anís del Mono or Bottle of Rum and Newspaper fit a home bar.

His strong geometry and clear color suit modern, mid-century and minimalist interiors, and the guitar and violin pictures belong in a music room or study. For a softer bedroom or hallway, choose a harlequin, a portrait such as Portrait of Josette Gris, or one of the Paris street views.

FAQ

What art movement was Juan Gris part of?

Juan Gris was one of the leading painters of Cubism. He began in the Analytical Cubist style, a term he later coined himself, and after 1913 became a steady practitioner of Synthetic Cubism, often using papier collé.

What is Juan Gris's most famous painting?

His best-known works include Portrait of Pablo Picasso (1912) and Still Life with Checked Tablecloth (1915). The latter holds his auction record, $57.1 million.

Where can I see original Juan Gris paintings?

Major collections include the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, which holds a large group of his paintings, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim in New York, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

How can you recognize a Juan Gris painting?

Look for everyday objects such as guitars, bottles, glasses, fruit and newspapers cut into flat, interlocking planes on a clear geometric grid. Unlike the muted Cubism of Picasso and Braque, Gris used bright, harmonious colors.

What was the relationship between Juan Gris and Picasso?

Both were Spaniards in Montmartre, and Gris regarded Picasso as a teacher and painted his portrait in 1912. The two later drifted apart, personally and artistically.

Related Artists

• Georges Braque — co-founder of Cubism and a friend of Gris in Paris
• Henri Matisse — a friend whose bold color sense is echoed in Gris's palette
• María Blanchard — Spanish painter who worked closely with Gris on Synthetic Cubism during the First World War
• Amedeo Modigliani — friend who painted Gris's portrait in 1915