Le Canigou
Juan Gris, 1921
Le Canigou is a Cubist still life that Juan Gris painted in December 1921 in Céret, a town in southern France where he habitually spent the winters. On a table sit everyday objects drawn from the still-life tradition: a guitar, an open book and a basket of fruit. Behind them, an open window reveals white geometric shapes against a blue ground which, according to the inscription painted above the canvas, stand for the Canigou massif, visible from the town. The title is therefore essential for recognising the landscape, since the mountain has become almost abstract. As is typical of Cubism, the composition combines several viewpoints at once: a corner of the table merges with a peak, and the mountain seems to spill over the window frame and enter the room. Gris had grown dissatisfied with the small-format works he was making in Céret, and this project proved far more engaging. The painting later passed through the Simon gallery and ended up at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, where it is held today.
- Painter
- Juan Gris
- Date
- 1921
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 35 × 49 cm
- Museum
- Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo
- Genre
- still life
- Depicts
- Massís del Canigó, guitar
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