José Victoriano González-Pérez, better known as Juan Gris, was born in Madrid in 1887. He studied in the School of Arts and Crafts in Madrid. He took up residence in the Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre, the home and meeting place of numerous artists, and where he was a neighbour of Picasso. He began painting his first watercolours and publishing humorous illustrations in various magazines. His earliest experiments with Cubism date from 1911 and are clearly influenced by Cézanne. He soon turned towards the highly colourful geometric style that culminated in the conquest of abstraction. In 1912, he began using collage for the first time. Gris distanced himself from the Cubist movement of Braque and Picasso by colouring and shading specific objects in order to achieve a highly personal and elegant effect. Gris died in Boulogne-sur-Seine in 1927.
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The bottle of aniseed
In this painting, Gris pays homage to the leaders of the Cubist movement, Picasso and Braque, and to himself as one of the participants in the discoveries that arose from within this artistic movement.
More info
Reina Sofía National Art Museum (Madrid)
Other highlighted works
- Guitare et pipe
- La jalousie
- Paysage à Céret
- Broc et verre
- Violon et guitarre
- Carafe et livre
