Art - Juan Gris

Gris was a cubist painter with a very personal style, which combined ideas of his own with those of Braque and Picasso.
He was born as José Victoriano González in Madrid in 1887. He studied at the School for Art and Technical education for some time, but gave up for his artistic career. Gris moved to Paris where he became friends with Picasso, Apollinaire and Max Jacob. The artist also hired a studio at Monmartre and made a living as a draughtsman of caricatures in several newspapers at first.
His artistic career started in 1919, from that moment Gris began to paint full-time. Gris' first solo exhibition was in Cèret in a small gallery in 1911 and this made it possible to exhibit in the Salon des Indépendants and the exhibition of the Section d'Or. He sold a lot paintings to famous collectors and David-Henri Kahnweiler offered him a contract in 1913. This contract lasted until 1914, because the war had broken out and Kahnweiler had to move outside France. Juan Gris became friends with Robert and Sonia Delaunay and was seen in the Parish nightlife quite regularly. A new contract with Léonce Rosenberg provided him new orders and he started to make a lot of collages.
Gris suffered from pleuritis in 1920 and this affected his health very badly. He became very susceptible to diseases. Still he found the power to work and designed the decor of 'Les Tentations de la Bergère', a production of Diaghielev and the Ballet Russes in 1922. Gris also had his first exhibition outside France in 1925.
Juan Grist died young in 1927, because he was weakened by asthma, bronchitis and in the end blood poisoning.