Google’s celebrating, and so are we. Born José Victoriano González in Madrid on this day in 1887, the artist studied engineering before becoming a painter. Perhaps this background predisposed him for the cerebral, analytical qualities of cubism, which he took up in 1911. Like our founder Duncan Phillips, Gris loved color. He structured his compositions with sensuous hues. What would Still Life with Newspaper be without the burnished golden lemon at lower right?

Cecilia Wichmann, Publicity and Marketing Manager

Juan Gris, Still Life with Newspaper, 1916. Oil on canvas, 29 x 23 3/4 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Acquired 1950.