Juan Gris

Galerie Simon (D. H. Kahnweiler), Paris
Galerie Flechteim, Berlin
The Mayor Gallery, London
Douglas Cooper (acquired from the above in July 1928; sale: Christie's, London, Drawings and Sculpture, Prints and Posters from the Douglas Cooper Collection, 30th November 1988, lot 523)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Bern, Berner Kunstmuseum, Juan Gris, 1955-56, no. 160
Basel, Kunstmuseum; London, Tate Gallery & Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Douglas Cooper and the Masters of Cubism, 1987-88, no. 20, illustrated in the catalogue
Madrid, Galería Theo, Dibujos, 1994
Madrid, Galeria Elvira González, Drawings, 1994
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Juan Gris, Pinturas y dibujos 1910-1927, 2005, vol. I, no. 239, illustrated in colour; vol. II, illustrated pp. 227-228
Madrid, Galería Elvira González, Juan Gris, Pinturas y Dibujos 1909-1927, 2006, no. 16, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Carl Einstein, Die Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts., Berlin, 1928, illustrated p. XIII

Executed on cream laid paper, not laid down, and hinged to the overmount at the upper two corners. The upper and left edges are very slightly unevenly cut. There are three artist's pinholes to the extreme upper edge (not visible when framed). The sheet is slightly timestained (not visible when framed). This work is in overall good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present work was formerly in the collection of Douglas Cooper, the prominent British art historian, art critic, collector, and a leading scholar for Juan Gris. Acquired in 1928, at the tender age of seventeen, Cooper had not yet inherited the great fortune which later allowed him to build his extensive and comprehensive collection. This was one of his very first purchases and the fact that he bought it out of his own "pocket-money" is testament to Cooper's early admiration for the artist and interest in Cubist art, later galvanised by his friendship with both Picasso and Léger. A lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art, Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford, as well as a prolific writer and regular contributor to the Burlington Magazine, Cooper is undoubtedly one of the great figures of twentieth century art history.

Nature morte à la guitare et un livre de musique relates to the oil painted in 1922 and here illustrated. The stimulating visual rhythm of this work is punctuated with the extensive use of thin black lines and portrayal of what is arguably the most iconic Cubist subject matter of all, the guitar. The thin lines relate to the strings of the instrument, taking prominent position at the centre of the composition, and echo the horizontal lines of the partition.  Creating multiple planes of representation, Gris successfully investigates spatial representation. Such technique and his distinctive use of the medium were previously used to produce the illustrations for Tristan Tzara's book of his avant-garde play Mouchoirs des nuages. The present work is testament to his extensive training as a draftsman, regularly contributing to French satirical magazines such as L'assiette au beurre.  Gris flattens the jagged overlapping planes and the result is the total disjunction of a single perspective.