Still Life with Newspaper 1918

Juan Gris made this painting, 'Still Life with Newspaper', with oil on canvas and, you know, it’s like he’s building forms, not just painting them. Look at how Gris applied the paint. It's like he's constructing a world, piece by piece. The surface has this gritty, almost sandy texture, especially in the gray areas. It’s not smooth, it's like he wants you to feel the materiality of the paint itself. The whites in this painting, they're not just white, they're built up, layered, almost like a relief. There's this one black squiggle that suggests the shape of a bottle, but it's also just a cool, graphic mark. It’s like he’s saying, “Hey, this is paint, but it’s also a bottle, or maybe just a memory of a bottle.” You could compare this to Picasso’s cubist works, but Gris brings a certain coolness, a restraint, almost a quiet humbleness. It’s not about showing off; it’s about a slow, careful way of looking and making.