The Table in Front of the Window 1921

Juan Gris made "The Table in Front of the Window" with oil on canvas; we don't know exactly when but it's one of his earlier pieces. Check out how Gris lays down these muted colors – browns, grays, yellows – in planes that almost look collaged. You can sense his working process, with each shape and shadow built up, edge by edge. There's a quietness to it, right? The canvas has this almost sandy texture, where the brushstrokes aren't totally smoothed out. Take that newspaper, for example: Gris doesn't just paint a newspaper, he builds it from chunky layers, blocky letterforms. That’s important! It gives the painting a solid, material presence. It’s like Gris wants us to feel the weight of the newspaper. This is a great example of synthetic cubism, and in the way it flattens space and fragments objects, you could say it picks up where Picasso left off. And it’s definitely more about the process of perception, and the ambiguity of form, than about any kind of fixed reality.