Gris, Juan
Violin and Checkerboard
Gris, Juan
Violin and Checkerboard
1913 (140 Kb); Oil on canvas, 100 x 65 cm (39 3/8 x 25 5/8 in); Stephen a. Simon and Bonnie Simon Collection (DC60)
Be sure to pay close attention to this one! It's easy to be misled by the appealing decorative quality of Gris, so after the first glance, go back and search out the details of rhythm he employs. Examine how the realistic and schematic versions of the checkerboard intersect/interlace, very subtly. Unfocus so you can see all the pieces of individual color at the same time, the yellows, then the greens, then the oranges. Then do the same with the textures, the cloth, then the woodgrain. Don't miss the distortion of the wallpaper design as it enters the attractive field of the (left) violin. Paramount with Gris is the object itself, in this case of course, the violin. Ask yourself why he included two distinct images of the violin. What differentiates them and how are they interrelated as aspects of a single object?