Artwork
Fruit Dish and Glass (Still Life with Lemons)
Fruit Dish and Glass (Still Life with Lemons) is an oil painting by the Cubism Synthetic artist Juan Gris. It dates from 1923 and is held in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
The composition is rendered in a restrained palette of browns and yellows, emphasizing tonal harmony over vivid coloration.
Juan Gris’s 1923 oil painting titled Fruit Dish and Glass (Still Life with Lemons) presents a compact arrangement of everyday objects, a drinking glass, a small plate, a fruit dish holding two lemons, and a cluster of grapes. The composition is rendered in a restrained palette of browns and yellows, emphasizing tonal harmony over vivid coloration. The work belongs to the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Subject & Meaning
The painting focuses on a modest still‑life setting, inviting contemplation of ordinary items through careful placement. The glass rests on a plate at the left edge, while the dish with lemons occupies the center, and grapes are scattered to the right. By isolating these objects, Gris draws attention to their forms and the subtle interplay of light across surfaces.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil, Gris employs a muted chromatic scheme that softens the visual impact, allowing tonal variations to suggest volume and depth. The brushwork is smooth, with gentle transitions between the warm browns of the background and the pale yellows of the fruit, creating a calm, balanced atmosphere characteristic of his later still‑life approach.
History & Provenance
Created in the early 1920s, the painting reflects Gris’s continued exploration of still‑life motifs after his Cubist period. It entered the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s collection, where it has been displayed as part of the museum’s representation of early twentieth‑century modernism.
Context
Gris, a Spanish-born artist active in Paris, was a contemporary of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. By 1923, he was integrating Cubist structural concerns with a more subdued palette, as seen in this work’s simplified forms and restrained color choices, marking a transition toward a personal, lyrical still‑life language.
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Artist & collection
Artist
José Victoriano González-Pérez, better known as Juan Gris, was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period.
