Les Pommes 1924

Juan Gris made "Les Pommes" at some point, no one seems to know when, using oil on canvas. It's a still life, but not really, because these forms are so clearly constructed through paint, like a stage set. The colors are so muted, almost sickly, which gives the painting a strange kind of gravity. I find the texture particularly compelling. Gris laid the paint on in thin, transparent layers, one over the other, until the apples look as if they’re glowing from within. Look at the way he's defined the form of the central apple. There's this subtle tension between the flat planes of color and the illusion of three-dimensionality. It’s like he's saying, "I'm creating this image, building it up layer by layer." Gris reminds me a bit of Giorgio Morandi, who was also interested in the subtle relationships between forms and the way that light can transform everyday objects into something magical. Both artists show us that the real subject of painting is always painting itself.