The Blue Cloth 1925

Juan Gris made this painting of a still life with oil on canvas, and called it The Blue Cloth. I love the way Gris's shapes bump up against each other, creating a flattened space that still feels dimensional, and all held together with colour. It’s so matter-of-fact, like the way he paints those grapes spilling from the bowl. You can almost feel them rolling around. The texture is smooth and controlled, with each color applied in a clear, clean way. And there is this light, creamy palette, with the blue offering just the right amount of contrast to the browns and whites. Look at the surface of the blue cloth, and the way the light reflects differently. It is so interesting to look at the work of Picasso and Braque and the way Gris takes these ideas into his own space. He asks: what is form and what is an idea?