Artist
Juan Gris Spanish, 1887–1927
CultureSpanish
Titles
- The White Tablecloth
- (La Nappe Blanche)
Date1916
Made inParis, France
MediumOil on panel
Dimensions19 3/4 × 23 3/4 in. (50.2 × 60.3 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number2006.389
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 203
On view
Explore Further
Department
Modern and Contemporary ArtObject Type
While working in Paris in the first decade of the twentieth century, Juan Gris formed a strong friendship with
his fellow countryman Pablo Picasso, and by 1912 he was making his own
distinctive contributions to the evolution of Cubism. The White Tablecloth demonstrates his confident assimilation of the
later, so-called Synthetic phase of the movement, which balanced abstraction
with trompe l’oeil (fool-the-eye)
motifs. The American writer and collector Gertrude Stein was an early supporter
of Gris’s work; she called him “a perfect painter,” adding that, for Gris,
“still life was not a seduction it was a religion.”
Provenance[Léonce Rosenberg, Paris, c. 1916]; Vicomte Alain de Léché, Paris; Bernard Poissonnier, Paris; [Galerie Berggruen, Paris]; [Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris]; [Saidenberg Gallery, New York]; [Marlborough Gallery, London]; [Galeria Theo, Madrid, until c. 1980]; Private collection, c. 1980; thence by descent, until 2006; [Christie's, London, Impressionist and Modern Art, June 20, 2006, no. 138]; purchased by MFAH, 2006.
Exhibition History“Les Créateurs du Cubisme,” Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, March–April 1935; June–October 1935, no. 42.
“Les Maîtres de l'art indépendant 1895-1937,” Petit Palais, Paris, 1937, no. 16.
“Juan Gris,” Kunstmuseum, Bern, October–January 1956, no. 40.
“Juan Gris,” Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, October–December 1965; Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne, December–February 1966, cat. no. 42.
“Juan Gris (1887-1927),” Salas Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Madrid, September–November 1985, cat. no. 56.
“Juan Gris,” Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, September–November 1992; Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, December 1992–February 1993, Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo, March–May 1993, cat. no. 60.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Marked in the image, lower right: "Juan Gris 12-1916"
Back labels on verso (photocopies in accession file):
"IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART / EVENING SALE, 20 JUNE 2006 / 138 JUAN GRIS (1887-1927) / La nappe blanche / Signed and dated "Juan Gris 12-1916 (lower right) / Oil on panel / ... (dimensions) / Painted in December 1916 / £ 800,000 - 1,200,000 / US$ 1,500,000 - 2,250,000 / €1,170,000 - 1,760,000 CHRISTIE'S"
"D34505 CHRISTIE IMP / FRAME ... / SUBJECT STILL LIFE/BOTTLE / ARTIST / GRIS"
"7243 20th June 2006 / Lot 138 / IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN / ART EVENING SALE"
"XL08 (?) 8197 GRIS Juan (1887-1927) / Nature morte à la nappe 1916 / oil on panel ... / Marlborough / MARLBOROUGH FINE ART (LONDON) LTD. 39(?) OLD BOND ST. / LONDON W 1X 4BY TEL. 01-629-5161"
"IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART / EVENING SALE, 20 JUNE 2006 / 138 JUAN GRIS (1887-1927) / La nappe blanche / Signed and dated "Juan Gris 12-1916 (lower right) / Oil on panel / ... (dimensions) / Painted in December 1916 / £ 800,000 - 1,200,000 / US$ 1,500,000 - 2,250,000 / €1,170,000 - 1,760,000 CHRISTIE'S"
"D34505 CHRISTIE IMP / FRAME ... / SUBJECT STILL LIFE/BOTTLE / ARTIST / GRIS"
"7243 20th June 2006 / Lot 138 / IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN / ART EVENING SALE"
"XL08 (?) 8197 GRIS Juan (1887-1927) / Nature morte à la nappe 1916 / oil on panel ... / Marlborough / MARLBOROUGH FINE ART (LONDON) LTD. 39(?) OLD BOND ST. / LONDON W 1X 4BY TEL. 01-629-5161"
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
Terrell James
2008
A: Oil and acrylic on plywood panel; B: Oil, acrylic, and collage on plywood panel
2012.191.A,.B
Carl Palazzolo
2021
Acrylic, gesso, graphite, drawing inks, crayon, and oil on panel
2021.597
