Violin Before an Open Window

Juan Gris is considered to have perfected the Cubism that Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque had begun to develop in Paris in 1906. Gris painted this still life in December 1926, five months before his premature death. Before an open window with a view of a mountain landscape in the background, a violin and an open book of music lie on a table between a carafe and a bowl filled with fruit. For the most part, Gris placed the color surfaces and the lines independently of one another. Only in the case of the violin and the music book do they coincide precisely, resulting in a representational depiction of spatial depth. The carafe and the bowl of fruit, on the other hand, are merely outlined in black and white. Because of this, they remain very much on the surface of the painting. Due to the transparency of the objects, the warm colors of the tabletop and the violin seem to come more to the fore. The boundary between top and bottom is blurred. Yet, this also applies to the back and the front—for example, where Gris connected the mouth of the carafe with the mountain range and where the silhouette of the latter blends into the shadows on the bowl. 

If you'd like to learn more about Juan Gris, don't forget to check out our new online course - Cubism 101: Picasso, Braque and the Others :)

P.S. The most famous cubist painter was of course Pablo Picasso. Did you know, his art changed radically throught his career and can be divided into 8 different periods? Get to know them here!