Artwork
Still Life with a Poem
Still Life with a Poem is an oil painting by the Cubism Synthetic artist Juan Gris. It dates from 1915 and is held in the collection of the Norton Simon Museum.
About this work
Still Life with a Poem is an oil painting by Juan Gris, made in 1915. Gris was a Spanish artist born in 1887.
The work is part of the collection at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. It shows Gris’s interest in arranging everyday objects with a poetic touch. The painting reflects the cubist language that Gris often used, even though no
Overview
Juan Gris’s 1915 oil painting Still Life with a Poem resides in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena. The work combines a traditional still‑life arrangement with a printed verse by the French poet Pierre Reverdy, creating a visual‑literary dialogue. Executed in Gris’s mature Cubist style, the composition treats the tabletop as a flat, wood‑grain surface that mimics the appearance of a collage.
Subject & Meaning
The canvas presents ordinary objects, bottles, fruit, and a sheet of paper, organized in overlapping planes that suggest multiple viewpoints. At the lower edge, Reverdy’s poem appears in black type, linking the visual and textual realms. The juxtaposition hints at a conversation between image and word, a hallmark of Gris’s collaborative experiments with contemporary poets.
Technique & Style
Gris employs oil on canvas with a restrained palette of muted ochres, grays, and blues, characteristic of his Synthetic Cubism. The painting’s surface is rendered with crisp, geometric facets that flatten space while preserving a sense of volume. The simulated collage effect is achieved through careful brushwork that imitates the texture of paper and wood grain.
History & Provenance
Completed during World War I, the piece marks Gris’s first fully realized partnership with Reverdy after an earlier, aborted collaboration hindered by wartime printing restrictions. The painting entered the Norton Simon Museum’s collection in the mid‑20th century, where it remains on view as part of the museum’s modern European holdings.
Context
By 1915, Cubism had evolved from its early analytical phase into a more decorative, synthetic mode, a transition in which Gris played a pivotal role. Living in Paris alongside Pablo Picasso, he refined the movement’s visual language, earning the informal title of “the third cubist.” This work exemplifies his synthesis of geometric structure and everyday subject matter.
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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.
