Where to See Juan Gris

Juan Gris (born José Victoriano Carmelo Carlos González-Pérez in Madrid, in 1887) moved to Paris in 1906 and lived there for most of his life. He became a central figure in the Cubist movement. To see examples of his work, consider visiting the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Their collection includes Houses in Paris (Maisons à Paris), from 1911; Bottle and Glass (Bouteille et verre; Fruit Bowl; Black, White, Tan; Glass and Carafe), from February 1917; and Fruit Dish on a Check Tablecloth (Pink and Green; Compotier), from November 1917. Gris's paintings have also been exhibited at the Tate Gallery, London; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Kunstmuseum Basel; and the Galerie Simon in Paris. He had major exhibitions at the Galerie Flechtheim in Berlin in 1923 and in Düsseldorf in 1925.

José Victoriano Carmelo Carlos González-Pérez (1887-1927), known as Juan Gris, was a Spanish painter and sculptor who spent most of his working life in France. Gris began to paint seriously in 1910, and by 1912 he had developed a personal Cubist style. In 1913, Gris began using the papier collé technique developed by Braque and Picasso. By 1914 his handling of the technique was personal and sophisticated. His pasted elements overlap and intermesh with one another in relationships calculated with mathematical precision. These collaged papers cover the entire surface of the canvas, simultaneously forming an abstract composition and serving as a multilayered support for naturalistic details. His first exhibition was in 1912; that same year, D-H Kahnweiler gave Gris a contract that gave him exclusive rights to the artist's work. After Kahnweiler fled Paris at the outbreak of World War I, Gris signed a contract with Léonce Rosenberg in 1916. His first major one-man show was held at Rosenberg's Galerie l'Effort Moderne in Paris in 1919. In 1920, Kahnweiler returned and again became Gris's dealer.

Juan Gris, a Spanish artist (1887-1927), is important for his development of Cubism. He moved from derivative early works to become a central figure in the second phase of the movement. After relocating to Paris in 1906, Gris initially worked as a satirical draughtsman. He then encountered Picasso and Braque; by 1912, he had evolved his own Cubist aesthetic. Gris moved away from the analytical Cubism of Picasso and Braque, which often approached abstraction. Instead, he pursued what he termed "synthetic Cubism". This involved using brighter colours and clearer shapes, constructing pictures from simplified components. Still life was a frequent subject. Gris explored mathematical relationships and harmonic proportions in his compositions. He aimed to create a sense of order and clarity, distinguishing his work from the more intuitive approaches of his Cubist peers. His theories influenced later artists and movements. Despite his early death, Gris made a contribution to the development of modern art.

Juan Gris, whose real name was Jose Victoriano Gonzalez-Perez, was born in Madrid in 1887. He abandoned his birth name for a shorter one when he moved to Paris in 1906. He had fourteen siblings and, before moving to France, he studied engineering and painting.

Juan Gris approached Cubism differently from Picasso. Picasso and Braque worked intuitively, breaking objects apart to see what would happen, whereas Gris worked by logic. He started with abstract geometric shapes and built objects back into them, reversing the process, which he called deductive.

Juan Gris, born in Madrid as José Victoriano Carmelo Carlos González-Pérez, moved to Paris in 1906 and began painting seriously around 1910. By 1912, he had developed his own Cubist style. Gris employed collage techniques, especially *papier collé*, using paper cutouts to build compositions. He combined these with media such as gouache, watercolour, charcoal, coloured chalks, and pencil. Gris's method involved assembling simple shapes and overlapping areas to suggest objects. He would dissect represented objects and present each facet from a different viewpoint. His collage elements often had a literal quality. Gris explained his use of a piece of mirror by saying that, while surfaces and volumes can be re-created, a mirror's changing surface requires a real piece. Unlike Picasso and Braque, who added trompe l'oeil details before incorporating fragments, Gris used illusionistic detail and collage almost simultaneously. By 1914, his use of *papier collé* became more complex, covering the entire pictorial surface with paper fragments to achieve cleaner, flatter effects.

Juan Gris, who began painting seriously around 1910, was influenced by Picasso and Braque. He closely followed Picasso's Cubism, using its essential features in his own style. Gris's 1911 work, L'Homme a la Pipe (a portrait of his friend Legua), demonstrates visual influence from Picasso's Horta de San Juan figure work. His Portrait of Picasso (1911-12) also shows how he combined different views of the head in a stylised way. Gris's approach to Cubism differed; he was more interested in the implications of the discoveries than the appearance of the paintings. His methodical interpretation helped define Cubism's aims for the public and minor figures in the movement, concentrating attention on the style's mechanics. He also studied Cézanne, evident in his early still lifes through simple forms and distorted table angles. By 1912, Gris's paintings at the Salon des Indépendants attracted attention, influencing artists like Marcoussis and Herbin, who also approached Cubism through Picasso and Braque.

Juan Gris, born in Madrid as José Victoriano Carmelo Carlos González-Pérez, moved to Paris in 1906 and began painting seriously around 1910. He developed his own Cubist style by 1912. Though friends with Picasso and Braque, Gris's approach to Cubism differed from theirs. He was more interested in the implications of their discoveries than the appearance of their paintings. His interpretation of Cubism served to define the aims of the style. Gris felt he could master Cubism only after studying Cézanne. The influence of Cézanne is apparent in Gris's early still lifes of 1911, in the simple forms and high angles of vision. Gris's first Cubist paintings derived from Picasso's work of 1909. Gris knew Braque's work less well, and did not become friendly with him until after 1912. L'Homme a la Pipe, a portrait of Gris's friend Legua, shows a visual influence from Picasso. The Portrait of Picasso shows Gris dealing with the combination of different views of the head in a stylized fashion.