The Comet Liquidator
Juan Gris captured the sheer panic of 1910 Paris in this dramatic illustration, where a massive beam labeled 'Comète Liquidateur' crashes into the Eiffel Tower. The cursive script floating in the dark sky warns 'demain la fin du monde' (tomorrow the end of the world), referencing the widespread hysteria that Halley's Comet would poison the atmosphere and destroy humanity. Before becoming a Cubist master, Gris worked as a satirical illustrator for magazines like *L'Assiette au Beurre*, and this apocalyptic scene perfectly mimics the sensationalist headlines of the era. The city below is rendered in a dense, anxious texture, frozen in anticipation of a doom that never arrived.
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