"Guitar in Front of the Sea," Juan Gris, 1925.

As I've said before, I don't care much for Cubism, except for Juan Gris' style.

Spaniard Gris (1887-1927) started off as an illustrator and cartoonist, but moved to Paris and plunged himself into the avant-garde art world. He became a passionate Cubist, and in my view the best, as he practiced "Crystal Cubism" where he broke down things to their component shapes, but kept them still recognizable. His remarkably clean lines appeal to me.

The guitar here is two intersecting triangles with a rectangle thrust in it...the newspaper is two trapezoids together...the sea is some white lines on blue with a plain white triangle indicating a sailboat. We also have sheet music, a pear, and what may be the Ace of Diamonds....and while they're all distinctly Cubist, you still easily recognize them.

Poor health meant he died young and never moved to another style. As some critics have said, he's the purist Cubist of the lot.

From the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.

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