Juan Gris was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for the majority of his career. Gris was closely connected to the innovative artistic genre of Cubism. In the beginning, he studied engineering he actually started to study engineering at the School of Arts and Sciences.
Juan Gris was recognized alongside Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Légar as one of the four major father figures in Cubism. Gris worked as a graphic artist, creating drawings for political and satirical magazines. He was deeply influenced by his environment and started to pursue painting more predominantly in 1911. Juan Gris made his artistic debut in the 1912 Salon of Independent Artist with a portrait of Pablo Picasso, a painting that is considered one of the finest examples of Cubist portraiture.
Gris continued to the development of Synthetic Cubism – later a phase in cubism which I really enjoy that emphasized the flat quality of the image. I feel as though in Gri’s works, he exhibited a greater simplification of geometric structure, a blurring of the distinction between objects and setting, between subject matter and background. Juan Gris’s paintings are immediately distinguishable from the four major figures of Cubism, known by his background as an illustrator, with a slick, almost commercial-like appearance, and crisp design elements throughout.
Chelsea,
Solid post on Juan Gris here! You have enough information combined with your own personal thoughts about the artist and his contribution to Cubism. This also translated beautifully into your PK presentation. I also like you shared your opinions about his place as one of the big four of the movement and your opinion that he is favoured for you among them. You made your case in a succinct and compelling manner. I’m giving you a 10/10 for the PK and a 2/2 for this latest post. Well Done!
Jeff