Juan Gris the painters of the Puteaux Group in the Salon de "la Section d'Or" in 1912. His preference for clarity and order influenced the Purist style of Amédée Ozenfant and Charles Edouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier), and made Gris an important exemplar of the post-war "return to order" movement. In 1915 he was painted by his friend, Amedeo Modigliani. In November 1917 he made one of his few sculptures, the polychrome plaster "Harlequin". Gris's works from late 1916 through 1917 exhibit a greater simplification of geometric structure, a blurring of the distinction between objects and setting, between subject matter and background. The
Gris-gris (talisman) originates with the French "joujou" meaning doll or play-thing. It has otherwise been attributed in scholarly sources to the Mandingo word meaning "magic." The gris-gris originated in Dagomba in Ghana and was associated with Islamic traditions. Originally the gris-gris was adorned with Islamic scripture and was used to ward off evil spirits (evil djinn) or bad luck. Historians of the time noted that they were frequently worn by non-believers and believers alike, and were also found attached to buildings. The practice of using gris-gris, though originating in Africa, came to the United States with enslaved Africans and was quickly adopted