Gris--Complete Collection of World Famous Painters

Author: Chen Yingde, Zhang Mimi
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not available
Features: Juan Gris (1887-1927), a painter of "Cubist Painting." Gris's paintings perfectly combine the space of Cubism with the space of the Renaissance. The space in his paintings shifts from the ambiguous and multifaceted structure of Cubism to the stable and clear details of external space, as observed through the lens of traditional Renaissance-style painting. Gris was one of the Cubist painters who recognized this dual observational approach. Juan Gris (1887-1927) was born in Madrid and died on the banks of the Seine in Boulogne. Vicente Ignacio Gris, the father of Juan Gris, was a Castilian, and his mother was Andalusian. According to his sister Antonia, he showed a talent for painting as early as the age of six or seven. However, he attended regular schools and only later enrolled in the School of Fine Arts and Crafts in Madrid. His father's bankruptcy forced him to earn a living by drawing cartoons for Madrid's humorous newspapers. Soon after, he began studying under an elderly painter, Morera y Carnicero, and devoted himself entirely to art. He spent his days associating with writers and painters, using the pseudonym Juan Gris. During this period, the avant-garde of Spanish art had begun to move toward a modern style under the influence of German publications. At the age of seventeen, Gris decided to move to Paris. He sold everything he had to fund his journey. Since he had never served in the military, he did not have a passport. As a result, he was later unable to leave France for any trips. He applied for French citizenship but was never granted it. He was drawn to Picasso's new achievements and lived in a laundromat at 13 Rue Ravignan, surviving on satirical cartoons and enduring extreme hardship. However, his primary focus was on his artistic exploration, so after several years of experimentation, he finally abandoned his livelihood to exhibit his work. His main patron was Clovis Sagot, and the painting exhibited was "Salute to Picasso," sent to the Salon d'Automne in 1912. That same year, he exhibited his works in various exhibitions in Barcelona, Rouen, and elsewhere. Cubist painting rejects imitation, first analyzing the subject and then capturing it not on the surface of a changing object but in its continuous volume, on various planes, even in cross-sections, creating a complex yet highly expressive layering on the canvas. However, Gris's early works, especially portraits (of Raymond, Picasso), were clear and balanced. Soon, the Cubists began introducing markers taken from reality, which could serve as explanations for the audience, into their paintings: Braque's famous work "La Pique" achieved the texture of wood and marble through realistic depiction, heavily used printed type, and even used real newspapers to create collages. Juan Gris, on the other hand, employed various clever methods, envisioning a deeper, more rigorous scientific theory of modern painting and playing a decisive role in what is known as Synthetic Cubism. In the summer of 1913, Gris, Picasso, and Manolo stayed briefly at Sévres together. Picasso encouraged him, while Manolo, on the other hand, engaged him in an endless theoretical debate. From this point on, he worked to make Cubism clearer, more forceful, and more undeniable. In his 1920 solo exhibition, he joined the last common front of Cubism, but not only did he fail, but he also faced slander even from friends, yet he treated everyone with magnanimity. He anxiously observed the distortion of the meaning of the Cubist movement (its rapid development possibly destroyed by war) and resolved to make a solitary effort to find a modern "great style."