Prior to the winter of 1914-1915, Gris was almost exclusively working on his papier collés. The layering and juxtaposition of strongly patterned and textured papers produced dense surfaces in his highly structured compositions. Reacting to the overt flatness of the papier collés, the artist now sought greater abstraction through rediscovery of volume. Thus began a new period of stylistic diversity for Gris as he explored new themes. Utilizing a richer palette of blues, greens and reds to the overlapping planes, the artist sometimes added sand to the pigment and stippling patterns. In Verre et journal from 1915, Gris combines a playful assemblage set before an open air window attempting to bring the indoor and outdoor views into the same plane. The high keyed structure is modeled in a crisp manner using stark contrasts of light and dark. This along with the tactile surfaces and high relief make for a dramatic interplay in this painting.

From his first publication on Gris in 1935, Cooper
stressed Gris's role as one of the four major
Cubist artists, while also stressing his distinctive
character. He characterised Gris as more rational
or intellectual in his approach to Cubism, 'a less
intuitive and empirical artist than Braque or
Picasso.' He found, however, that Gris never fell
into a programmatic approach, but rather, 'he knew
how to temper science with intuition.' There was a
'compensatory side of his nature--the lyrical as
opposed to the intellectual, the sensuous as
opposed to the severe.' (D. Kosinski, Douglas
Cooper and The Masters of Cubism, Basel, 1987,
p. 96)