Bull (plate XI) 1946

This is Plate XI from Picasso's 'Bull' series, a lithograph, a printmaking process where an image is drawn on a stone or metal plate. What I love is how he takes a subject, the bull, and reduces it, step by step, almost like reverse engineering. Look at how the bull's body becomes a simple, almost geometric shape, a container of sorts, filled with textured shading. Notice the legs, those elegant, arching lines, so minimal yet they carry the weight, the essence of the bull. The lines aren't precious, there is a kind of searching quality, like he is figuring it out as he goes. It reminds me of Matisse's line drawings, that same confidence and ease. But Picasso's bull, with its reduction to pure form, speaks to the power of suggestion, inviting us to fill in the gaps, to participate in the act of creation. It's a reminder that art isn't about perfection, but about the beauty of process, the journey of seeing.