Background
Juan Gris was born on March 23, 1887 in Madrid, Spain. He was a son of Gregorio Gonzalez, a paper manufacturer, and Isabel Perez.
Juan Gris was born on March 23, 1887 in Madrid, Spain. He was a son of Gregorio Gonzalez, a paper manufacturer, and Isabel Perez.
During the period from 1902 till 1904, Juan attended Madrid School of Arts and Manufactures. Since 1904 to 1905, he studied painting under the guidance of José Moreno Carbonero.
In 1906, Juan Gris moved to Paris, where he befriended Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso and others. In 1910, Gris started to paint seriously, contributing humorous illustrations to journals, such as L'Assiette au beurre, Le Charivari, and Le Cri de Paris at the same time. During the early 1910s, his work followed the austere monochromatic style of Analytic Cubism and moved in the direction of Synthetic Cubism — a subsequent phase, distinguished by a broader, bolder use of color and a collage-like approach to composition — from 1914 onward.
In 1912, Gris held his first exhibitions at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris, Galeries Dalmau in Barcelona, Der Sturm Gallery in Berlin, the Salon de la Société Normande de Peinture Moderne in Rouen and the Salon de la Section d'Or in Paris. The same year, he signed a contract, that gave a German art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler the exclusive right to sell his work. After several years of financial difficulties in Paris, the arrangement gave him greater stability and allowed his work to reach a broader and more influential audience. Some time later, in 1919, Gris held his first major solo exhibition at Rosenberg's Galerie l'Effort Moderne in Paris.
Juan Gris painted prolifically during and after World War I, though in 1920 he caught pleurisy, a lung inflammation, then often confused with tuberculosis. In an attempt to recuperate, he spent the winter at Bandol, on the southeastern coast of France. While there, he spent time with a Russian ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, and the two discussed ideas about staging and costumes for upcoming productions. Their conversations eventually yielded a full collaboration and during the period from 1922 to 1924, Gris designed costumes and sets for the Ballet Russes.
Juan Gris achieved the peak of popularity in the mid-1920's. During that time, he also articulated most of his aesthetic theories. In 1924, Gris delivered his definitive lecture, "Des possibilités de la peinture", at the Sorbonne. His most important exhibitions took place at the Galerie Simon in Paris and the Galerie Flechtheim in Berlin in 1923 and at the Galerie Flechtheim in Düsseldorf in 1925.
Breakfast
Newspaper with Coffee Mill
Woman with a Mandolin (after Corot)
Still Life at the Open Window
Harlequin
Fruit Bowl, Pipe and Newspaper
Bottle of Beaune and a Fruit Dish
The Open Book
Carafe and Book
The Book
The Glass (The Fruit Bowl)
Fruit Bowl with Bottle
Bottle and Glass
Still Life with Guitar
Portrait of Maurice Raynal
The Table in Front of the Picture
Still Life before an Open Window (Place Ravignan)
Still Life with Lamp
Lemon
Glasses, Newspaper and Bottle of Wine
Portrait of the Artist's Mother
Clown
Two Pierrots
The Pipe
Photograph of Violin and Checkerboard
Landscape
Pierrot Playing Guitar
Compotier, Carafe and Open Book
A Pot of Geraniums
Still Life with Fruit Bowl
Landscape with house at Ceret
The violin
Newspaper, Glass and Pear
Bottle, Wine Glass and Fruit Bowl
Guitar on the Table
Fruit Bowl with Bottle
Harlequin
Bottle and Pitcher
Musician's table
Bottles and Knife
Book, Pipe and Glasses
Fruit Dish and Glass
The Bottle of Anis del Mono
Open Window with Hills
The Sunblind
The Garden
Guitar and Glass
Photograph of The Guitar
Guitar, Bottle and Glass
Seated Peasant Woman
Still Life in Front of the Wiindow
Portrait Daniel Henry Kahnweiler
Fruit Dish, Glass and Newspaper
The mountain 'Le Canigou'
The Packet of Cigars
Still Life with Bottle and Cigars
Still Life (dedicated to Andre Salmon)
Large reclining nude
Fruit with Bowl
Harlequin
Pierrot
The Basket of Pears
Guitar on a Table
Portrait of a Man
Bottle and Glass on a Table
The Bottle of Banyuls
Woman With Basket
Violin and ink bottle on a table
Playing Cards and Siphon
Landscape at Ceret
Glass, Cup and Newspaper
Fruit Bowl, Book and Newspaper
Composition with Violin
Tea Cups
The Table in Front of the Window
The Checkerboard
Guitar and Fruit Dish
Still Life
Grapes
Portrait of Germaine Raynal
Pedistal Table in front of the Window
Still Life with Guitar, Book and newspaper
The Violin
Guitar and fruit dish
Saint Matorel
Pierrot with Guitar
Harlequin with Guitar
Three Lamps
Still Life with Newspaper
Pipe and Glass
A man in a cafe
Pierrot with Guitar
Glass, Cup and Bottle
Still Life with Bottle and Glass
The Miller
Fruit and Book
Bowl and Book
Girl
Bottle and Fruit Dish
Harlequin at Table
Guitar and Glass
Harlequin at a Table
Still Life with Newspaper
Violin and Guitar
The Painter's Window
The Bottle of Banyuls
The Cloud
The Reader
Still life
Guitar on a Chair
Pierrot
Seated Harlequin
The Bunch of Grapes
Still Life with White Tablecloth
The Guitar
The Bay
Pears and grapes on a table
Guitar and Glasses (Banjo and Glasses)
The Book of Music
The Musician s Table
Violin and glass
Pierrot with Book
The Bordeaux bottle
Pierrot
Still Life with Checked Tablecloth
The Packet of Coffee
The Watch (The Sherry Bottle)
Violin and Glass
Still life with fruit bowl and mandolin
Tobacco, Newspaper and Bottle of Wine
Guitar and Music Paper
The Dice
Violin with Fruit
Still Life with Goblet
Landscape at Beaulieu
Bowl, Glass and Newspaper
The Bull Fighter
Seltzer Bottle and Glass
Glass and Bottle
Figs
Fruit dish, glass and lemon (Still life with nerwspape)
Still Life with Flowers
Guitar and Fruit Dish
Guitar and Pipe
Guitar and Fruit Bowl on a Table
Flowers
View across the Bay
Still Life with Newspaper
Newspaper and Fruit Dish
Table Overlooking the Sea
Bottle and Glass
The Open Window
Untitled
Portrait of Pablo Picasso
Still Life with Oil Lamp
Bottle, Glass and Newspaper
The Glass
Man from Touraine
Portrait of Madame Josette Gris
Fruit Bowl and Fruit
Bullfighter
Guitar and Clarinet
The Sideboard
The Coffee Grinder
Water bottle, Bottle, and Fruit dish
Book and Guitar
The Packet of Tobacco
The Blue Cloth
Strawberry Jam
The Three Masks
Fantomas
The guitar
The Siphon
Lamp
Pipe and Fruit Dish with Grapes
Bottle, Newspaper and Fruit Bowl
Glass and carafe
The Goblet
Harlequin with Violin
Beer Glass and Cards
Bananas
Man in the Cafe
Harlequin with a Guitar
Still Life on Plaque
Still Life with Guitar
Bowl, Book and Spoon
The Guitar with Inlay
Breakfast
Bottle
The Table
Still Life on a Chair
Clown
Quotations:
"Cubism is not a manner but an aesthetic, and even a state of mind; it is therefore inevitably connected with every manifestation of contemporary thought. It is possible to invent a technique or a manner independently, but one cannot invent the whole complexity of a state of mind."
"I prefer the emotion that corrects the rule."
"I make a composition with a white and a black, and make adjustments when the white has become a paper and the black a shadow."
Juan was married to Josette Gris. The couple had one son — Georges Gris.