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Lot Essay
Monsieur Quentin Laurens the holder of the droit morale has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this work.
When Juan Gris painted Nature morte avec fruits in 1923, his position as one of the foremost exponents of Cubism was being consolidated. 1923 saw two solo-exhibitions of his work: the first was a major show at Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler's Galerie Simon in Paris, followed by an international exhibition of his works held at the Galerie Flechtheim in Berlin. It was at this time that Gris collaborated with Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, a sign of the increasing recognition he was now being accorded.
Nature morte avec fruits exemplifies the less rigid - and increasingly poetic - style that was characteristic of Gris' art from this period. Constructed of simple intersecting forms and alternating curving and straight lines, Nature morte avec fruits recalls Gris' earlier cubist aesthetic but has been softened into a more supple, simplified and harmonious composition. Kahnweiler described this period as the most beautiful and fruitful of the artist's career, a sentiment echoed by Douglas Cooper who concluded that, 'It is only in 1920 that Gris at last seems in full possession of his resources' (D. Cooper, quoted in J. T. Soby, Juan Gris, exh. cat., New York, 1958, p. 96).
When Juan Gris painted Nature morte avec fruits in 1923, his position as one of the foremost exponents of Cubism was being consolidated. 1923 saw two solo-exhibitions of his work: the first was a major show at Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler's Galerie Simon in Paris, followed by an international exhibition of his works held at the Galerie Flechtheim in Berlin. It was at this time that Gris collaborated with Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, a sign of the increasing recognition he was now being accorded.
Nature morte avec fruits exemplifies the less rigid - and increasingly poetic - style that was characteristic of Gris' art from this period. Constructed of simple intersecting forms and alternating curving and straight lines, Nature morte avec fruits recalls Gris' earlier cubist aesthetic but has been softened into a more supple, simplified and harmonious composition. Kahnweiler described this period as the most beautiful and fruitful of the artist's career, a sentiment echoed by Douglas Cooper who concluded that, 'It is only in 1920 that Gris at last seems in full possession of his resources' (D. Cooper, quoted in J. T. Soby, Juan Gris, exh. cat., New York, 1958, p. 96).