GRIS, Juan (1887-1927)

GRIS, Juan (1887-1927)

Autograph postcard signed « Juan Gris » to André Level
[Loches, 2 Oct. 1916], 1 p. in-8°
Autograph address: « [M]onsieur André Level / 21 rue de Londres / Paris »
On the back: view of the Louis XI Tower and the Martelet in Loches
Stamp and composting marks

Scarce Gris postcard to collector and gallery owner André Level

We leave Juan Gris’s spelling as is

« Cher ami,
Merci du beau Corot que vous m’avez envoyé. J’essai bien a faire du paysage mais ça me semble mauvais. On verra bien du bout de quelques tentatives.
Je ne travaille pas beaucoup. Je joue a la balle et j’ai construit en cerf-volant qui ne veut pas voler. Tous les jours je le perfeccione sans obtenir un resultat.
Le bonjour de ma femme.
Juan Gris
[He adds on left margin :]
Mes hommages a Mme et Mesdemoiselles »

Having settled in Loches in 1916 with his partner and future second wife Josette Herpin, Juan Gris painted a dozen canvases there in a few weeks, some of which depicted landscapes and local monuments. Working with the gallery owner Léonce Rosenberg since 1915, Gris nevertheless maintained correspondence with other figures in the French avant-garde scene, including André Level. The latter, after creating the investment fund “La peau de l’ours” in 1904 with his brothers and a few friends, acquired a considerable number of works by then little-known artists such as Picasso, Modigliani, Matisse, etc. He sold the works ten years later at the Hôtel Drouot in a historic and highly successful sale, placing the French avant-garde at the forefront of the art market.
This card is one of the last sent from Loches by the painter before his return to Paris. He left Touraine region at the end of October to attend the banquet celebrating the recovery of Guillaume Apollinaire and the publication of his Poète assassiné.