Portrait of Jacqueline 1957

Editor: This is Picasso's "Portrait of Jacqueline," painted in 1957. Looking at it, the colors and fragmented shapes give it a somewhat melancholic yet strong feeling, don't you think? What strikes you most when you see it? Curator: Oh, Jacqueline! I always feel a connection to these portraits. What I see isn't just sadness, but a depth, a kind of knowingness in her gaze. Picasso was absolutely smitten, you see. Think about Cubism's aims, and his use of expressionism. He isn't just rendering her physical likeness, is he? He's trying to capture the essence of Jacqueline. Notice how her features are broken apart and reassembled. Editor: Yes, the deconstructed face. So is he trying to show different perspectives simultaneously? Curator: Exactly! It's like he's showing you her past, present, and perhaps even a glimpse into her future all at once. And the colours aren’t just decorative either. Red, black, green...he must have used all those to symbolize how she made him feel. Raw emotion. Did you notice the date at the top? The immediacy tells its own tale. Editor: You're right, it adds another layer to it, as if capturing a specific moment in their lives. Looking at it now, I see beyond the melancholy - there's passion, definitely. Curator: Yes, isn’t it extraordinary how a single image can be both a record of adoration and such an expression of pure, unadulterated love? Editor: Absolutely! I'll never look at a Picasso portrait the same way again. Curator: Me neither, and isn’t that a gift in itself?