Seated Bather 1930

This is Picasso’s Seated Bather, and what strikes me first is the subdued palette; it's almost like he's working with a limited range, pushing what he can express through tone and form. The colours are so muted, almost a whisper of colour. Look at the way he's built up the figure from geometric shapes, like a sculpture made of planes. The surface is smooth, almost cool to the touch, which makes the fragmented form even more striking. His lines aren't trying to trick you into thinking this is a real body. It's like he's saying, "Here's what a body could be, what it feels like to perceive one." And then there’s that head. Tilted down, lost in thought. See how the hands come up to meet the face? It's a gesture of contemplation, maybe even despair. The way he’s simplified the figure reminds me of some of the early Cubist sculptures, like those by Lipchitz, where the body is reduced to its barest essence. It feels like Picasso is having a conversation with sculpture through painting. With this piece, he reminds us that art is not just about what we see, but how we feel and think.