Coffee Grinder 1920

Juan Gris painted this still life, "Coffee Grinder," using oil on canvas. Gris presents us with everyday objects—a coffee grinder, a bottle, a glass—transformed into a series of geometric shapes. The coffee grinder, a symbol of daily ritual, becomes abstracted, its form broken down, yet still recognizable. Consider the shared symbolism with Chardin's still lifes, where simple objects speak to deeper human experiences. Here, Gris uses cubism to explore the essence of these items. The way he flattens and rearranges these familiar items taps into our collective memory of such domestic scenes. The subconscious effect is a tension between recognition and abstraction. The painting evokes a sense of psychological depth through its dismembered depiction of familiar objects. This challenges our perception and digs into our collective memory. It's a dance between the known and the unknown, reflecting how we continuously rebuild our understanding of the world through fragmented experiences. The symbols evolve, change context, and become new again.