Playing Cards and Siphon 1916

Juan Gris made Playing Cards and Siphon, with oil on canvas, and the way he teases out these forms from blocks of colour is really wonderful. The palette is quite muted, mostly browns and grays, which kind of flattens the space and brings everything to the surface. It's like he’s building up the image piece by piece. Up close, you can really see how Gris layered the paint, creating this subtle texture. Look at how he renders the 'Journal', the slightly roughened surface emphasizes the materiality of the paint and the act of construction. It's not about illusion, it's about the physicality of putting paint on canvas. The forms are so carefully considered, each angle playing off another, like pieces of a puzzle. Gris's work reminds me a lot of Picasso, though he has a graphic sensibility all his own. It’s almost like a conversation between them, each pushing the boundaries of how we see and understand the world through art. It’s this constant exchange that makes art so exciting, a game where the rules are always changing.