Landscape with House at Ceret 1913

Juan Gris made this painting, 'Landscape with House at Ceret', using oil on canvas. In this artwork, Gris applies the visual language of Cubism to the rural landscape around the town of Ceret in France. At first glance, the fragmented forms might seem purely abstract. But they do represent the houses, fields, and hills of the French countryside. Gris’s Cubism is more measured and less radical than Picasso’s, but it raises fundamental questions about the way we look at and understand the world. Ceret was a popular destination for artists in the early 20th century. This painting speaks to the way the art market, the gallery system, and the patronage of collectors helped to shape modern art movements. The fact that it is now in a private collection speaks to these systems of valuation. To understand this artwork fully, we can research the history of Cubism, the market for early modern art, and the artistic community in Ceret. By doing so we can see how art always exists within broader social and institutional contexts.