Artist study on

Joan Gris
By Yash Shrivastava
Who is Joan Gris?
Born in March 23, 1887, José Victoriana González-Pérez- or better
known as Joan Gris, was a Spanish cubist artist who was born in
Madrid. He is known for his unique approach in the already popular
movement of cubism. This unique style was termed crystal cubism.
This deviating style in cubism was caused through French school of
thought, as Joan Gris was living in France for most of his latter life.
He is recognized as one of the 4 major figures in Cubism, along with
Pablo Picasso, Georges Brauque and Fernand Leger. He met Pablo
Picasso in France and through to this influenced environment, he
moved on from his more light drawings to a more serious artistic
debut. In 1912, he issued his portrait of Pablo Picasso, which by
today is shown to be one of the most fine examples of Cubist
portraits. He worked throughout the first World War, but his health
slowly detoriated. He died from Kidney Failure on May 11, 1927 at
the mere age of 40.
While he did learn the Cubist techniques from Picasso and Braque,
who mastered synthetic cubism, Joan Gris matured his interpretation
of the genre. He used more fragments and sharp edges. It took more
styles of the classic rather than the contemporary. His theory was
more defined for every stroke or artwork he created.
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“Juan Gris Paintings, Bio, Ideas.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist/gris-juan. Accessed 24 Aug. 2021.

“Synthetic Cubism - Modern Art Terms and Concepts.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/definition/synthetic-cubism. Accessed 24 Aug. 2021.
Still Life with Checked Tablecloth
Joan Gris is known to make static objects appear to be full of
movement. This painting was made in the summer of 1915 in
Paris. This painting is referred by the artist as a “turning point”
in his art career. “I think I have really made progress recently
and that my pictures begin to have a unity which they have
lacked till now. They are no longer those inventories of objects
which used to depress me so much”.
He masterfully disguised the objects on the table into a mixture
of emotions and an unifying identity.
His variety of work, especially that of 1915. The fluorescence
style shows a beautiful and enigmatic details of still life. The
form of triangles show the unique interpretation of life. This
love for triangle gives off the iconic style of cubism he is know
for- crystal cubism. While I could not find an actual definition, I
believe it’s the showcasing of a familiar environment but as if it
through a crystal of some sort, where light bends and adjacent
to give off a swanky and sharp atmosphere which is bounded
with the form of triangles.
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Lauder, Leonard. “Still Life with Checked Tablecloth.” METMusuem, 2014, www.metmuseum.org/art/online-
features/metcollects/still-life-with-checked-tablecloth.
My analysis
On the right we can see the triangles that Joan Miro saw. I outlined all that I could
see as well but some shapes may not have caught my eye. The symmetry and
position of the triangles give the painting a unique characteristic. The crystal like
outlook works well, in which realistic perspective is lost and instead we see a
personal recreation of the spur at the moment emotion of the artist. But also an
interesting identity inserted in the painting is its formation of a Bull’s head. The
objects of grapes, red wine, guitar, newspaper, red diamond logo, etc. uniformly
create a bulls head. This is an iconic symbol of Spanish culture and shows an
animal pareidolia, the phenomenon of seeing faces in everyday objects. This may
be done to show the iconic motif of Spain, which shaped the identity of cubism.
The color and texture used by Joan Gris is
outstanding in creating an atmosphere of
mystified and contemporary cubism.
The first thing anyone will notice is the emerald green that characterizes the art
piece. It is the color of theme and is used well with the small splashes of
maroon, brunette and dirty azure. Alongside, the textures used are very grainy
and rock-like, giving a radiated grunge and rustic feel to the art, that works well
in relation with the colors.
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Wikipedia contributors. “Still Life with Checked Tablecloth.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_Life_with_Checked_Tablecloth.

The Painter's Window
This painting was made in 1925, in his somewhat later times as an
artist. We see a reoccurring set of motifs, similar to the previous
artwork. The guitar and pipe especially. Playing cards and a paint set
is shown clearly, unlike the other artwork. This difference is due to
the different style used. Unlike the checked tablecloth-which used
crystal cubism, this artwork emphasizes on synthetic cubism, which
was more popular and mainstream at the time. Instead of seeing
through the lens, objects were dumbed down to a more simple
geometric identity and more representable subject matter too.
Mixed media is popular in this style and is more focused on the
interpretation of shape rather than the theory behind the strokes.
But unlike the synthetic cubist of Picasso and Braque, he composed
his objects with more well saturated colors, that incorporated the
styles of modern simplistic art that was popularized through jazz. He
relied on the traditional conventions of painting. His aim for
synthetic cubism wasn’t to create a unique movement but rather a
culmination of various modern approaches. For example, he uses
real prints to create a collage like art, inspired for Dadaism.
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“---.” Www.Wikiart.Org, www.wikiart.org/en/juan-gris/the-painter-s-window-1925. Accessed 24 Aug. 2021.

 My analysis
Colors again is an important aspect
when assessing Joan Gris. You can see
the theme of a more serious tone, used
with his more moody choice of color.
This is used to juxtapose with the more
swanky form of the piece.

The shapes here are an alternate versions of the objects of the real world. On
the right we can see the diamond like shapes given to subject, as if Mr. Gris
was trying his best to transform the object to a version with the least amount
of sides- most into a quadrilateral. The texture is the real spotlight of the
show, as it again shows the feeling only Joan Gris can give. His careful jagged
lines to represent the simplified elucidation of the wood texture and gritty
texture of the window and other objects show and Lune movement are given
a touch of human, as they are not perfectly straight. It works as if there is an
outline of symmetry but the lines try to emulate that, deviating slightly. The
usage of black works well with the brown and Moorish atmosphere, especially
with the small doses of color represented through the paint on a pallet. This
piece represents the artistic interior side and exterior side, showing the
parallels and differences of his personality of his mind and house.
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“The Painter`s Window, 1925 - Juan Gris - WikiArt.Org.” Www.Wikiart.Org, www.wikiart.org/en/juan-gris/the-painter-s-window-1925. Accessed 24 Aug. 2021.

“WebMuseum: Gris, Juan: The Painter’s Window.” WebMusuem, webmuseum.meulie.net/wm/paint/auth/gris/painter-window. Accessed 24 Aug. 2021.

“Color Palette Extractor.” Mdigi.Tools, mdigi.tools/color-extractor. Accessed 24 Aug. 2021.

 Process

I grew inspired of putting miscellaneous objects that weren’t generally generic, like the trend that is present in most Cubist still-
lives. I took objects that I felt would be fun to draw and hence, I scouted for objects in my house. Upon finding the adequate
amount of objects, I went out to my balcony and started to sketch I used my own interpretation of form and for the objects at
hand. I created the entire sketch through observation, at one go. At first I was going to use a physics paper and acrylics paint,
but I felt my skill would better be translated in the digital realm. With digital art, I could play around more- so I used the select
tool and warped some of the objects to a more wonky perspective, in my own accordance (on the right).
Hence, the sketch is created on Procreate. I worked with 3-4 layers here but combined them into two separate layers- as I do
not want too many layers to confuse me. I did not recreate the background, as I had another idea for it.
Colors was going to an
Getting my colors in use, I Following all of that, I started After getting finished with the
important decision and
used layers for each coloring the other objects. I more “earthy” and stone/
knowing how Joan Gris uses his
object that were placed used textures to make the metallic related objects (lantern
color, I needed to issue that in
below the sketches. I stony feeling of the pot. I and pots), I filled color for the
the straight first moment. I
filled the objects then worked this same process with other more plastic objects. I
used the procreate photo-to-
with colors that best the other pot. For the shrub, I wanted to issue a sort of realism
color pallet tool. I took a
represented them. I first used another brush that was to it all, so I used as many colors
picture that encompassed the
started with this frog pot more rough and a more lumpy as I could for every object. The
range of colors I felt I needed
and colored it a dirty mud brush for the cacti. I applied base color was finished, the
and used it. I could later
brown. Light shading was some shading to the cacti and harder part was which type of
change the color to my
also done. it was appearing well. texture.
accordance.
I couldn’t find any texture that fitted well with my remaining objects. I hence needed to create my own brush, which the
liberty was given to me through Procreate. I made the dept less and the grain behavior less intense. I rounded the brush
more too, so it gave a more dirty but more smooth feeling. After spending a lot of time on these objects, I finished some
small details up and started with the finishing touches of the whole work. I added two abstract objects, one being a bottle
and the other being a piece of paper. Aside from that, I took interest in putting this family rug in my drawing but just for the
reference of perspective. I didn’t copy it as I felt it would be strange to see a detailed rug in the back. I then colored it to my
liking, gratinating it fully.
Final Product and review
I took interest in the texture used by Joan Gris a lot. This one
element of his art took me the most inspiration and hence
relating this new understanding of texture from his paintings. His
slow and gradual approach is unique and shows the his
underrated craftsmanship. I took his more theoretical and
abstract interpretations and implemented my own realistic but
warp form. I think I may have not understood his theory much
and would like to improve on that for my later studies.
I tried some interesting forms that made a lasting impact on me
and my art journey. I will implement his style on later artworks
later in time, as I feel it needs more research to dwell into. Sharp
edges and proper composition is something I will need to learn
and work on for my later artistic venture.
Exploring Joan Gris further moved my deep love for Cubism,
especially of which is from Spain. Spanish cubism is my favorite
art movement and I glad to have been inspired by the
techniques of Joan Gris. Other works like that of Joan Miro and
Georges Braque have made me want to stay and get better on
this particular movement.