Carafe and Book 1920

Juan Gris made this painting, Carafe and Book, with oil on canvas, and it's like he’s building the world from scratch. Look at how he uses a muted palette of blues, greens, and creams, patching them together to make this still life almost architectural. The surface has a kind of matte flatness, but also, you can see the brushstrokes pulling the paint in different directions. Notice the way the open book at the bottom has pages striped in black and white, suggesting depth and form with just a few lines. It’s like he’s not just showing us a book but also how we see a book. This reminds me of some of the structural experiments of artists like Braque, where the act of seeing becomes as important as what we're looking at. Gris isn't just painting objects; he's painting the very act of perception.