A retrospective exhibition of works by Spanish Cubist artist Juan Gris (1887-1927), the first of its kind in 30 years in France, started on September 24th 1998 at the Musée Cantini in Marseilles. Juan Gris was one of the major exponents of Cubism during the 1910's having followed Picasso and Braque in their footpath in 1911 three years after these masters had started to develop non figurative techniques.
Not considered as a pioneer but as one of the best Cubist artists of the 1911-1920 period, Gris was hailed by Kahnweiler, André Salmon, Apollinaire and Albert Einstein during his lifetime. Nevertheless he was always simply considered as a follower of Picasso and Braque and not as a discoverer.
Picasso was quite critical of his work once noting that he would need 1000 years to achieve a masterpiece. Such acid remark did not pay justice to his fellow-countryman though art critics admit that his paintings and drawings
are nicely done though without genius.
The paintings exhibited in Marseilles reveal some talent but also some deficiencies in them despite the fact that Gris often managed to overcome difficulties in order to reach harmony. These are well constructed with lines and divisions on the surface but overall the artist did not equal Picasso and Braque in terms of invention.
At one time, Gris tried to free himself from the influence of the two masters but only got to the point of improving his technique.
Gris left however no place to improvisation and carefully prepared his works with the help of elaborate studies. By 1918, he had mastered all the difficulties of Cubism. However, by 1920 he failed to reach another enriching stage and his works produced during the remaining seven years of his life showed that he was at a loss trying to tame his compositions.
At ease while painting still-lifes, Gris never managed to cope with human figures when it came to introduce them in his works. Finally, he was just a talented performer of Cubism while dreaming to become its maestro.
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