Bullfighter 1913

Juan Gris made this intriguing, monochromatic 'Bullfighter' in France, but I don’t know when, or with what. The colors in this piece are muted, verging on a lack of color which can be so telling. The surface looks dry like it’s sucking the pigment into itself. There are so many geometric shapes, and angles which overlap one another, but in a way which is so playful. It's like Gris is saying that he is not interested in making a picture of a Bullfighter that looks realistic, he is interested in making marks, shapes, and lines which are still a kind of Bullfighter. Look at how the lines of the hat create a kind of map or cage. What does this cage contain? Is it just a Bullfighter? Or is it something more? Is the artist trying to communicate the subject's inner life? Or merely play with different forms of representation? He reminds me a little bit of Picasso or Braque, but with his own twist. Art's just one big conversation, right?