"Coffee Grinder and Glass," Juan Gris, 1915.
Spanish-born Gris (1887-1927), my favorite Cubist, did all his major work in Paris, where he immersed himself completely in the avant-garde art scene.
He actually started as a cartoonist in Madrid before casting that aside and taking off for France. It almost makes sense for him, a satirist with a jaded eye for society and humanity, to fling himself into a new art movement.
Here we have a work from when he was on the verge of his "Crystal Cubism" period, featuring sharp angles and a blurring not only of objects and surface, but also of subject and background. The skewed perspective of the glass, newspaper, and coffee grinder are expected, but it takes a moment to realize that repeated pattern to the left is a venetian blind, with the skewed perspective and angles that are classical Cubist.
Other Cubists tend to annoy me, I have to admit, but I love Gris' clean lines and willingness to engage with the viewer rather than hold them at a distance.
From the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO.
#Art #Cubism #JuanGris #Coffee #Blinds
