Violin and Playing Cards on a Table 1913

Juan Gris made this painting, Violin and Playing Cards on a Table, with oils on canvas. It's a still life, but not still at all. It's like a game of seeing, a puzzle of shapes and forms. I can almost feel Gris piecing it together, shifting the objects around, turning them inside out. There's this violin, sort of green and ghostly, hovering above the table. And the cards! I imagine Gris arranging them just so, maybe even playing a hand himself, before capturing them in paint. The surface is smooth, the colors muted, but the energy is anything but quiet. He's got this push-pull thing going on with the space, making it flat and deep at the same time. It reminds me of Picasso and Braque, all those early cubist experiments. Painters are always chatting to each other, across time and space, don't you think? It is a visual feast that celebrates the joyful, creative process of painting itself, leaving room for doubt and play.