Hotspur🏳️🌈🇺🇦"Guitar with Inlays," Juan Gris, 1925.
And hello again to my favorite Cubist, Juan Gris (1887-1927). I've talked about him before so I won't repeat myself. He's been described as perhaps the purist Cubist; he died young and thus never moved away from the style.
Like many Cubists, he was fascinated by musical instruments, and being a Spaniard, it seems natural he'd be drawn to the guitar. Here we have a still life that's fairly representational but still undeniably Cubist, with a bowl of grapes, a pipe, a book (or is it sheet music?), and of course, the inlaid guitar.
This is an example of what became known as Synthetic Cubism, where they became more representational, but would also depict objects as being broken into component shapes, often asymmetrical and out of perspective, so while they're recognizable, they're still off-kilter. Gris does a good job with it.
From the Museo Nacional Centro Des Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.
Luis Pita | photographer
Luis Pita | photographer
HRH ginsterbusch