Juan GrisOverlooking the Bay 1921

Overlooking the Bay shows many items typically found in a cubist still life – bowl of fruit, glass, bottle and newspaper– set against the blue sea and distant hills of a seascape. Breaking away from the shallow space associated with pre-war cubism, Gris was attempting here to allow foreground and distant background elements to co-exist on a shallow plane without use of a naturalistic perspective or chiaroscuro. It is a painting of controlled internal tension. No obvious logic underpins the relationship of the curtain, which hangs parallel to the picture plane, and the jutting angle of the window frame on the right… (read more)