JUAN GRIS

The student paints his master in an act of homage, and in doing so steps out of his shadow. When Juan Gris moved to Paris at the turn of the century, he was well timed to meet Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque as they were beginning to define the new language of the 20th century they were to call Cubism. Immediately infatuated with the style, and in awe of Picasso’s genius, Gris spent many years on the sidelines of this artistic scene, not as a full fledged member of the movement but instead as a disciple. This picture marked Gris’ entrance into the artistic milieu that managed to redefine the movement he had admired since it’s inception. Retaining the multiple perspectives and geometric forms of early Cubism, Gris’ portrait adds in an optical illusion effect with the crystalline structure of the geometry to create what would be coined ‘Analytical Cubism’. It is a fitting subject for a seminal work: his teacher and inspiration serves as the stepping stone to Gris’ emergence as an essential artist in his own right.

FRANCIS BACON

In 1650, Diego Velazquez was commissioned to paint a portrait of Pope Innocent X. The resulting images is one of the most famous works in art history, but was received with controversy in its day for the accuracy of, and lack of flattering to, its subjects. Almost exactly three hundred years later, Francis Bacon - the great British post-war painter - took Velazquez’s vision and distorted, corrupted, and expanded it in a series of paintings known as the ‘Papal Portraits’. Much as the original work made Velazquez his name, Bacon is still remembered perhaps most strongly for these works. The artist never worked from life, instead drawing from photographs, found images, and visions in his mind, often with all three in combination. The resultant works are journeys into darkness, nightmarish visions where Innocent X becomes a prisoner in a glass box, tormented by brushstrokes and carcasses, his mouth open as he screams in silence. It is unclear if Bacon’s Pope is the butcher of the beef behind him, or an equal with it just waiting to be killed but the painting grapples with a complex relationship to religion, and an upturning of the art historical order.

WINSLOW HOMER

Spending a year in a small fishing village on the English coast, the through and through New Englander Winslow Homer’s life changed. He had spent decades making a living as an illustrator, and was moving into painting with moderate success. His subjects were society folks, historical vignettes and scenes of pastoral, rural idyl that spoke to a nostalgic view of America. A naturally gifted painted, and almost entirely self-taught, the work is moving, delicate, and beautifully rendered though at times emotionally shallow. His time spent in England changed his understanding of the purpose of painting, as he saw the quiet, everyday heroism of working people. For the rest of his life, after that year, he rarely painted anything else. His theme became the eternal battle between man and nature, and he depicted with respect and revelry those who fought small battles for sustenance every day. Here, two men, precarious in their small boat against a rolling sea, pull in herring from a net. Winslow’s use of scale is remarkable - the figures absorb the eye, looming large against the horizon as if by their sheer heft they conquered nature. Yet the boat is small, and their actions, though painted in drama, are mundane and ordinary. Homer elevated daily life into something profound, and found the heroism in the overlooked.