Seated Woman 1917

Juan Gris made this ‘Seated Woman’ out of oil paint, probably sometime in the 1910s. The geometric shapes and muted colors give it a cool, intellectual vibe, but I can feel the hand of the artist in the way the colors are layered. There’s something very satisfying about how the brown, black, and grey shapes interlock to create the figure. The paint handling is interesting – it's neither trying to disappear nor draw too much attention to itself. I love the crisp lines and subtle gradations within each form. Especially that white line of the face in profile on the dark blue of the chest, like a ghostly echo, or a half-erased thought. Gris makes me think of Picasso, another Spaniard who chopped up the world to see what was inside. But Gris brings a quiet, methodical touch to the Cubist language. His paintings are like puzzles, inviting you to assemble the pieces in your own mind.