Juan Gris
The White Tablecloth

Public Domain

ExpandFavorite

Images(4)

Artist Juan Gris (Spanish, 1887–1927)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

Object number2006.389

Current Location

The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building

Gallery 203

On view

Explore Further

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Object Type

PAINTING

Description
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"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.