Gris, Juan
Portrait of Josette Gris
Gris, Juan
Portrait of Josette Gris
1916 (100 Kb); Oil on panel, 116 x 73 cm (45 5/8 x 28 3/4 in); Museo del Prado, Madrid (DC 203)
Surely one of Gris's greatest achievements, the Portrait of Josette is based on his studies after Corot and Cézanne. He magnificently integrates foreground and background elements on one plane. This feat is accomplished primarily through color rhythms that unite differing spatial planes. The blacks, employed, to signify bosom, derriere, and leg, as well as the prominent shadow of the figure, all occupy places on the forward plane. Transparency does not result in an illusion of depth but instead becomes another means of joining planes of the picture. The composition is a dynamic medley of pictorial elements.