Artwork
The Pear
The Pear is an oil painting by the Cubism Synthetic artist Juan Gris. It dates from 1919 and is held in the collection of the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection.
About this work
Overview
The piece exemplifies the artist’s mature phase within the Cubist movement, balancing clarity of form with subtle tonal variation.
Juan Gris’s 1919 oil painting titled The Pear presents a solitary fruit rendered in a restrained composition. The work measures the pear placed in a white bowl atop a similarly colored tablecloth, set against a background of interlocking geometric planes in muted earth tones. The piece exemplifies the artist’s mature phase within the Cubist movement, balancing clarity of form with subtle tonal variation.
Subject & Meaning
The central motif is a single pear, isolated from any narrative context, inviting contemplation of everyday objects as subjects of artistic inquiry. By focusing on the fruit’s volume and surface, Gris explores the interplay of light and shadow, while the surrounding abstract shapes suggest a space that is both tangible and conceptual, reflecting Cubism’s interest in multiple perspectives.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on canvas, the painting employs a limited palette of yellows, browns, and blacks, applied with smooth, flat brushwork that emphasizes geometric simplification. The pear and bowl are delineated by bold, clean lines, while the background consists of overlapping planes that fragment the visual field. This approach underscores Gris’s analytical Cubist style, merging representation with abstraction.
History & Provenance
Created in the post‑World War I period, The Pear entered the collection of the Kunsthaus Zürich, where it remains on display. The acquisition reflects the museum’s commitment to representing key developments in early 20th‑century modernism, particularly the contributions of Spanish-born Cubist Juan Gris.
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.
