Housed in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, this portrait of a fellow artist, who would go on to achieve fame, is one of Modigliani’s most celebrated works. The portrait of Juan Gris was painted during the First World War, when German artists had left Paris and all French artists of military age had been conscripted. Therefore, Montparnasse, the principal artists’ quarter of Paris, was populated only by a handful of artists from non-belligerent countries. In 1915 Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris, both Spanish and well-known Cubist painters, sat for Modigliani. Although Modigliani had been acquainted with both artists for almost ten years, he had kept his distance from them, as they were Cubists, and he had insisted on maintaining independence from schools and groups, particularly from the modern artists of the so-called École de Paris that gathered around Picasso. By 1915, however, Modigliani felt that his style was sufficiently mature for him to assimilate the rich and varied influences of the Parisian art world without compromising his own individual work.
The portrait of Juan Gris was probably painted at a single sitting, as Modigliani seldom required more than two. Over the years he had earned his food and lodging by making quick portrait sketches at café tables, often for a few sous and a drink. In paintings such as the following plate, his speed of execution captured the freshness and immediacy of the moment, though the thinness of the paint is explained by the artist’s ever diminishing funds.
The head and the cylindrical neck of the subject appear carved, recalling Modigliani’s sculptures and his inspiration from African art. The nose in this portrait is stated almost as a separate entity, as seen in African carvings. The subtle organisation of the face into separate planes hints at Cubist influence, reminding us it is indeed the portrait of a prominent Cubist painter. At the time of completion, Modigliani had adopted the practice of inscribing his portraits with the names of sitters in bold lettering. His inscriptions are humorous and sometimes pointed. At the top right of this picture is the sitter’s name, GRIS, punning on ‘grey’ in both Spanish and French. Neutral grey tones had for centuries been associated with the art of Spain; more recently, these tones had characterised the paintings of the Cubists.