![Nature morte (Bouteille et verre) [Still Life (Bottle and Glass)]](/internal/media/dispatcher/15408/preview)
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Nature morte (Bouteille et verre) [Still Life (Bottle and Glass)]
Artist
Juan Gris
(Spanish, 1887 - 1927)
Date1917
MediumOil on wood
DimensionsFramed: 29 x 26 5/8 in. (73.7 x 67.6 cm)
Overall: 18 x 10 1/2 in. (45.7 x 26.7 cm)
Overall: 18 x 10 1/2 in. (45.7 x 26.7 cm)
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Terms
Object number52.36
Description On View
On viewCollections
CopyrightNo known copyright restrictions.
Label TextStill Life (Bottle and Glass) depicts a tall narrow glass bottle, a chair rail, an open pack of cigarettes, and a wooden table or floor. A prominent characteristic of this composition is its mirrored forms. The abstract motifs framing the bottle, for example, include a brown line against a green ground at top right, while on the opposite diagonal, on the lower left, a green line sits atop a brown shape. There is, moreover, a mirroring between objects with light or shadow. The lip of the bottle extends to the very top-center edge of the composition and it appears to be clear, outlined in white. The corresponding reflected form, however, is solid white, as if light had more substance than the sheer glass that can disappear to the eye.
Still Life (Bottle and Glass) presents a complex visual puzzle but there is more to the painting's meaning than unraveling its formal elements. Gris painted this still life in the depths of the Great War. The composition has a dark palette and is claustrophobic, acknowledging the physical and psychic realities of loss and deprivation.
Mary E. Murray
2005
