Gris’s collages often hint at narrative scenarios, the wallpapers and other elements acting as clues for the viewer. In Flowers, the combination of the “masculine” pipe and the “feminine” bouquet (formed from different flowery papers, including Leroy’s daffodil pattern, displayed below), along with the wine and coffee, imply a lovers’ meeting. The hand-painted midnight blue surround and the faux marble wallpaper underline the erotic atmosphere. (The Leroy sample shown below is printed in a different colorway.) American author Gertrude Stein, who befriended Gris in Paris, acquired Flowers soon after it was created in spring 1914.
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Title:Flowers
Artist:Juan Gris (Spanish, Madrid 1887–1927 Boulogne-sur-Seine)
Date:Paris, spring–summer 1914
Medium:Collage of cut printed and painted papers with black crayon, black, blue and white matte opaque paints on canvas, mounted to a honeycomb panel
Dimensions:21 5/8 × 18 1/8 in. (54.9 × 46 cm)
Classifications:Paintings, Works on Paper
Credit Line:Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection, Gift of Leonard A. Lauder, 2021
Accession Number:2021.395.3
Inscription: Signed (verso, in black paint): Juan Gris
[Galerie Kahnweiler, Paris, 1914; inv. no. 2090, photo no. 5061); sold between June 3–July 5, 1914 to Stein]; Gertrude Stein, Paris (1914–d. 1946; her estate, Paris, 1946–68; sold on December 14, 1968 to The Museum of Modern Art syndicate); The Museum of Modern Art syndicate, New York (1968–in or after 1972; sold in or after 1972, through E. V. Thaw & Co., Inc., New York, to Diamond); Harold Diamond, New York (?ca. 1972–d. 1982); his widow, Hester Diamond, New York (1982–95; sold in June 1995 to Lauder); Leonard A. Lauder, New York (1995–2013; transferred on April 8, 2013 to the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust); The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust, New York (2013–21; gift to MMA)
Paris. Galerie Simon. "Exposition rétrospective Juan Gris (1887–1927)," June 4–16, 1928, no. 9 (as "Bouquet," lent by Gertrude Stein).
Kunsthaus Zürich. "Juan Gris," April 2–26, 1933, no. 49 (lent by Mlle Gertrude Stein, Paris).
Paris. Petit Palais. "Les Maîtres de l'art indépendant, 1895–1937," June–October 1937, not in catalogue [see Ref. Cooper 1977].
Kunstmuseum Bern. "Juan Gris," October 29, 1955–January 2, 1956, no. 19 (lent by a private collection, Paris).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Juan Gris," April 9–June 1, 1958, unnumbered cat. (p. 39; as "Roses").
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Juan Gris," June 24–July 24, 1958, unnumbered cat.
San Francisco Museum of Art. "Juan Gris," August 11–September 14, 1958, unnumbered cat.
Los Angeles County Museum. "Juan Gris," September 29–October 26, 1958, unnumbered cat.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Four Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family," December 19, 1970–March 1, 1971, unnumbered cat. (pl. 24; lent by a private collection, New York).
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. "Gertrude Stein and Picasso and Juan Gris," June 25–August 15, 1971, no. 40 (lent by a private collection, New York).
San Francisco Museum of Art. "Four Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family," September 9–October 31, 1971, unnumbered cat.
London. Tate Gallery. "The Essential Cubism, 1907–1920: Braque, Picasso & their friends," April 27–July 10, 1983, extended to July 31, 1983, no. 67 (as "Roses in a Vase," lent by Mrs. Harold Diamond, New York).
London. Whitechapel Art Gallery. "Juan Gris," September 17–November 29, 1992, no. 44 (lent by Hester Diamond).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Objects of Desire: The Modern Still Life," May 25–August 26, 1997, unnumbered cat. (pl. .32; lent by a private collection).
London. Hayward Gallery. "Objects of Desire: The Modern Still Life," October 9, 1997–January 4, 1998, unnumbered cat.
Madrid. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. "Juan Gris: Paintings and Drawings 1910–1927," June 22–September 19, 2005, no. 44 (lent by a private collection).
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde," May 21–September 6, 2011, no. 69 (lent by a private collection).
Paris. Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. "Matisse, Cézanne, Picasso . . . L'aventure des Stein," October 5, 2011–January 22, 2012, no. 69.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde," February 28–June 3, 2012, no. 69.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection," October 20, 2014–February 16, 2015, no. 24.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cubism and the Trompe l'Oeil Tradition," October 17, 2022–January 22, 2023, unnumbered cat. (pl. 96).
E. Tériade. "Juan Gris." Cahiers d'art 3, nos. 5–6 (1928), ill. p. 234.
"Une Conférence de Juan Gris." Cahiers d'art 8 (1933), ill. p. 186.
W. Wartmann. Juan Gris, du 2 au 26 avril; Fernand Léger, du 30 avril au 25 mai. Exh. cat., Kunsthaus Zürich. Paris, 1933, p. 6, no. 49.
Douglas Cooper. Juan Gris. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Bern. Bern, 1955, unpaginated, no. 19.
José Camón Aznar. Picasso y el Cubismo. Madrid, 1956, p. 721, fig. 25, as "El ramo de rosas".
James Thrall Soby. Juan Gris. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1958, p. 42, ill. p. 39.
Guy Habasque. Cubism: Biographical and Critical Study. New York, 1959, p. 168, ill. p. 87 (color), as "Cup and Roses".
Frank Elgar. Gris: Natures mortes. Paris, 1961, unpaginated (list of plates), colorpl. 4, and ill. front cover (color), as "Le Vase de fleurs".
François Mathey. L'arte moderna. Il Cubismo. Milan, 1967, p. 435, ill. p. 159, as "Rose".
Herta Wescher. Die Collage: Geschichte eines künstlerischen Ausdrucksmittels. Cologne, 1968, pp. 28, 402, pl. 21, as "Rosenstrauß—Bouquet de roses".
Edward Burns, ed. Gertrude Stein on Picasso. New York, 1970, ill. p. 75 (on display in the residence of Alice B. Toklas at 5, rue Christine, Paris, 1956).
Douglas Cooper inFour Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1970, p. 66.
Four Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1970, p. 157, colorpl. 24.
Gertrude Stein and Picasso and Juan Gris. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada. Ottawa, 1971, unpaginated, no. 40, ill. (color) and fig. 6 (on display in the residence of Alice B. Toklas at 5, rue Christine, Paris, 1956).
Herta Wescher. Collage. New York, 1971, pp. 28, 402, pl. 21, as "Bouquet of Roses".
Douglas Cooper inGertrude Stein and Picasso and Juan Gris. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada. Ottawa, 1971, unpaginated.
Frank Elgar. Gris: Bodegónes. Barcelona, 1971, unpaginated, no. 4, ill., and ill. cover, as "El vaso de flores".
Antoinette King. "Conservation of the Collage 'Roses' by Juan Gris." Conservation of Paintings and the Graphic Arts. London, October 9–14, 1972, pp. 937–41, figs. 1–5.
Alice B. Toklas. Staying on Alone: Letters of Alice B. Toklas. Ed. Edward Burns. New York, 1973, p. 328, letter November 13, 1955.
Juan Antonio Gaya-Nuño. Juan Gris. Barcelona, [1974], p. 240, no. 71, ill. p. 48, as "El florero".
Juan Antonio Gaya-Nuño. Juan Gris. Boston, 1975, p. 244, no. 71, ill. p. 48, as "The Vase of Flowers".
Douglas Cooper with Margaret Potter. Juan Gris: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Paris, 1977, vol. 1, p. 154, no. 95, ill. p. 155, and nos. 95a, 95b (photographs showing the collage in 1937 and the underlying drawing), as May–June 1914.
Pierre Daix. Cubists and Cubism. Geneva, 1982, pp. 110, 162, ill., as "Still Life with Roses" (French ed., as "Nature morte aux roses").
Douglas Cooper and Gary Tinterow. The Essential Cubism: Braque, Picasso & their friends, 1907–1920. Exh. cat., Tate Gallery. London, 1983, p. 156, no. 67, ill. p. 157.
Maurice Jardot et al. Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler. Exh. cat., Centre Georges Pompidou. Paris, 1984, ill. p. 170 (installed at the Galerie Simon, Paris, 1928).
Elise Goldstein inJuan Gris (1887–1927). Ed. Gary Tinterow. Exh. cat., Salas Pablo Ruiz Picasso. Madrid, 1985, ill. p. 439 (on display in the residence of Alice B. Toklas at 5, rue Christine, Paris, 1956 [erroneously as in the Stein residence at 27, rue de Fleurus, Paris]).
Juan Antonio Gaya-Nuño. Juan Gris. Barcelona, 1985, pp. 17, 126, fig. 50, as "Las rosas".
Lewis Kachur inJuan Gris (1887–1927). Ed. Gary Tinterow. Exh. cat., Salas Pablo Ruiz Picasso. Madrid, 1985, p. 37, fig. 5.
Herta Wescher. Die Geschichte der Collage: Vom Kubismus bis zur Gegenwart. Cologne, 1987, pp. 23, 377, fig. 14, as "Rosenstrauß".
Christopher Green, with Christian Derouet, and Karin von Maur. Juan Gris. Exh. cat., Whitechapel Gallery. London, 1992, p. 200, no. 44, ill. p. 201 (color).
Margit Rowell. Objects of Desire: The Modern Still Life. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1997, p. 222, colorpl. 32.
Dawn Ades. Surrealist Art: The Lindy and Edwin Bergman Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. London, 1997, p. 77.
Christian Derouet, ed. Juan Gris: Correspondances avec Léonce Rosenberg, 1915–1927. Paris, 1999, p. 66, letter no. 104, p. 67 n. 7, as "Nat[ure] mort[e]".
Paloma Esteban Leal inJuan Gris: Paintings and Drawings 1910–1927. Ed. Paloma Esteban Leal. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Madrid, 2005, vol. 1, unpaginated, no. 44, ill. (color); vol. 2, pp. 60–61, no. 44, ill.
Emily D. Bilski and Emily Braun. Jewish Women and Their Salons: The Power of Conversation. Exh. cat., Jewish Museum, New York. New Haven, 2005, p. 119, fig. 121 (color).
Lynda Roscoe Hartigan. Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination. Exh. cat., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC. Salem, Mass., New Haven and London, 2007, p. 274 , fig. 98 (reproduced as a clipping of the cover of Frank Elgar's "Gris. Nature Morte," 1961, in Joseph Cornell's personnel copy of Douglas Cooper's "Juan Gris; ou Le goût du solennel," 1949).
Paz García Ponce de León. Juan Gris: La pasión por el Cubismo. Madrid, 2008, pp. 256–57, ill. (color, detail and overall).
Robert McD. Parker inThe Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde. Ed. Janet Bishop, Cécile Debray, and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. San Francisco, 2011, p. 403, no. 69, p. 456 (under legend 17).
Cécile Debray inThe Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde. Ed. Janet Bishop, Cécile Debray, and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. San Francisco, 2011, p. 230, colorpl. 189.
Kate Mendillo inThe Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde. Ed. Janet Bishop, Cécile Debray, and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. San Francisco, 2011, p. 322.
Janet Bishop, Cécile Debray, and Rebecca Rabinow, ed. The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde. Exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. San Francisco, 2011, p. 459.
"Objects Promised to the Museum during the Year 2012–2013." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, One Hundred Forty-third Annual Report of the Trustees for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (2013), p. 46, as May 1914.
Douglas Cooper, with Margaret Potter, updated by Alan Hyman, and Elizabeth Snowden. Juan Gris: Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint/ Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings. 2nd ed. (1st ed., 1977). San Francisco, 2014, vol. 1, pp. xv, lxi, 174–75, no. 95, ill. (color), and nos. 95a, 95b (photographs showing the collage in 1937 and the underlying drawing), as May–June 1914.
Elizabeth Cowling inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 116–20, 123, 310(1)nn.5, 9, (2)nn. 12–14, 17–19, (3)nn. 20, 21, 23, no. 24, ill. p. 117 (color).
Anna Jozefacka and Luise Mahler inCubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, pp. 260–62, fig. 24 (on display in Alice B. Toklas's residence at 5, rue Christine, Paris, 1956).
"The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection: A Conversation with Emily Braun and Pepe Karmel." IFAR Journal 16, no. 3 (2015), pp. 43–44, 47–48, figs. 20 (color) and 24B (color).
K. Porter Aichele. Modern Art on Display: The Legacies of Six Collectors. Newark, 2016, fig. 3.2, photo as installed in the "Exposition retrospective Juan Gris (1887-1927)," Galerie Simon, Paris, 1928.
Christopher Green in Christopher Green , with a contribution by Neil Cox. Cubism and War: The Crystal in the Flame. Exh. cat., Museu Picasso. Barcelona, 2016, pp. 20–21, 26, fig. 16 (color) and p. 34 (color detail).
Mary Clare McKinley. Birds of a Feather: Joseph Cornell's Homage to Juan Gris. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2018, pp. 14–15, 91 n. 80, fig. 2 (color).
Luise Mahler. "33_Glass, 34_Glass." Dialogues with Picasso: 2020–2023 Collection. Málaga, 2020, p. 140, fig. 2 (color) [Spanish ed., 2020, same pagination].
Emily Braun in Emily Braun and Elizabeth Cowling. Cubism and the Trompe l’Oeil Tradition. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2022, pp. 30, 245, colorpl. 96.
Rachel Mustalish in Emily Braun and Elizabeth Cowling. Cubism and the Trompe l’Oeil Tradition. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2022, pp. 69–71, 76, 78, 258 n. 4, figs. 54, 64g (color details).
Elizabeth Cowling in Emily Braun and Elizabeth Cowling. Cubism and the Trompe l’Oeil Tradition. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2022, p. 179.
Jason Farago. "Cubism and the Art of Deception." New York Times (November 12, 2022), p. C2, ill. (color).
Newspaper fragment from Le Matin, May 15, 1914; fragments of wallpaper designs, Leroy 14020 and Leroy 17213 (Isidore Leroy)
Juan Gris (Spanish, Madrid 1887–1927 Boulogne-sur-Seine)
ca. 1927
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