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In this magnificent still life painted by Jean Metzinger at a key moment in his post-war production marked by a shift from an understanding of Cubism as "pure effusion" towards a conception closer to a "return to order", the powerful geometrical nature of the composition is perceptible, as in similar works from this period. In this rectangular work, the still life is arranged on a table depicted as a rhombus set in an oval in which the central symmetrical axis is predominant, the space occupied by the guitar.

We also find similarities with the contemporary work of Juan Gris, to whom Metzinger was very close during the First World War-in fact, they spent the summer of 1918 together at Beaulieu-in the use of an earthy palette and above all in the desire to achieve synthesis through forms verging on abstraction. Metzinger was one of the Cubists most interested in applying mathematics to painting, in fourth-dimension geometry, and in the simultaneous perception of objects. In 1916, he stated that "everything boils down to numbers", proposing Cubism to be a mental exercise, a pursuit of beauty through the expression of ideas: "For me it is enough for it to be 'well made', for there to be a perfect accord between the parts and the whole, and between these and the medium."

In 1919, Metzinger returned to Paris, where Léonce Rosenberg staged a one-man show for him at his gallery L'Effort Moderne. Through his exhibitions and publications (Cubisme et Tradition, 1920), Rosenberg attempted to codify the classical Cubism characteristic of this period and provide a systematised response to the chaos of war, advocating a painting that, starting from visual reality, achieves an ideal reality based on concepts pertaining to architecture: order, structure and clarity. [Alberto Gil]

Selected bibliography

• Moser, Joann; Robbins, Daniel (col.). Jean Metzinger in retrospect. Iowa, The University of Iowa Museum of Art, cop. 1985, p. 79, lám. 108.
• Tesoros del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : pintura, 1400-1939 [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, El Viso, 1989. pp. 136-137, n° cat. 53.
• Castañer López, Xesqui. "El coleccionismo público en el País Vasco, 1980-1996 : los museos de bellas artes", Goya : revista de arte, n° 68. 1999. p. 46.
• De Picasso a Bacon : arte contemporáneo en las colecciones del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Segovia, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, 1999. pp. 54-55.
• Zugaza, Miguel ... [et al.]. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : maestros antiguos y modernos. Bilbao, Fundación Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa = Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa Fundazioa, 1999. p. 194.
• Zugaza, Miguel ... [et al.]. Maestros antiguos y modernos en las colecciones del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2001. p. 117.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 164.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 164.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 164.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. p. 166, n° cat. 117.
• Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. p. 166, n° cat. 117.
• Maria Blanchard [Cat. exp.]. Madrid ; Santader, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía ; Fundación Botín, 2012. pp. 60-61.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 166.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 166.
• Juan Gris, María Blanchard y los cubismos, 1916-1927 [Cat. exp.]. Málaga, Fundación Palacio Villalón, 2017. pp. 122-123, n° cat. 28.
• 110 Años 110 Obras [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 218-219, sin n° cat.
• 110 Ans 110 Oeuvres [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 218-219, sin n° cat.
• 110 Urte 110 Artelan [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 218-219, sin n° cat.
• 110 Years 110 Works [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 218-219, sin n° cat.
• Bilboko Museoaren alfabetoa = El alfabeto del Museo de Bilbao = The alphabet of the Bilbao Museum = L'alphabet du Musée de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 255, 257, n° cat. 146.
• El juego del arte : pedagogías, arte y diseño [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Fundación Juan March, 2019. pp. 281, 633, n° cat. 193.