Verre, couteau et assiette de fruits (1918)

Gris, Juan (1887-1927)

Verre, couteau et assiette de fruits (Tumbler, Knife, and Plate of Fruit)
1918
Graphite, 25.8 x 33.4 cm
Princeton University Art MuseumPrinceton

The Spanish-born painter and draftsman Juan Gris studied mathematics and engineering in Madrid for two years before becoming an artist and moving to Paris in 1906. There, he met Picasso and his circle during the formative years of Cubism (19089). By 1911, Gris had become one of the foremost Cubist painters, and the precise, geometric contours of his compositions set his work apart from that of Picasso and Braque. According to his dealer, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Gris drew little but deliberately, and considered his line drawings of everyday objects to be personal expressions in themselves. In these drawings the artist addressed issues of likeness and representation that did not appear in his more abstracted paintings of the same period. (PUAM)