Still life with fruit bowl and mandolin 1919

Juan Gris made this still life painting with fruit bowl and mandolin sometime in the early twentieth century. What strikes me about this painting is how Gris lets the process be visible. He's not trying to hide anything, and it makes the painting feel so alive. Look at the blue lines he's laid down to depict what could be the edge of a table. The color is flat, opaque. You can almost see him moving around the canvas, trying out different angles and lines. It's like he's saying, "Here's how I'm thinking, here's how I'm seeing." You can imagine him experimenting with the colours, the blues, yellows, and greens, trying to find the right balance and harmony. It reminds me a bit of Cezanne, in the way he’s flattening the space. But Gris is doing his own thing, pushing it further into abstraction, letting the process become part of the picture. Art isn't about fixed meanings, it's an invitation to explore and dream.