Portrait of Picasso

Working in oil on canvas, Juan Gris painted this tribute to his friend and fellow Spaniard in 1912, depicting Pablo Picasso as a painter holding a palette. The composition fragments the figure into geometric planes of blue, brown, and ochre, breaking down form in the manner of Analytical Cubism.

The inscription "Hommage à Pablo Picasso" at the bottom right makes Gris's intention clear. He respected Picasso as a leader of Parisian artistic circles and as the co-inventor of Cubism. This was Gris's debut at the Salon des Indépendants in 1912, a bold way to announce himself as part of the avant-garde.

Gris was 25 when he painted this, having moved from Madrid to Paris in 1906. He settled in the same building as Picasso and became part of the Cubist circle centered on Montmartre. It now hangs at the Art Institute of Chicago, a gift from collector Leigh B. Block.