Head of a man with straw hat 1971

Picasso made this portrait, Head of a man with straw hat, with paint, probably oil. What strikes me are the dark outlines, and the straw hat, like rays of sun – like maybe he’s thinking of Van Gogh. I can imagine Picasso starting with this really light blue background, then he slaps down those confident black strokes to form this guy’s face. It’s like he's building the face right in front of us, layer by layer, not afraid to show the process. I can see him, brush in hand, maybe even a little reckless, pushing the paint around, deciding where to put the shadows, the highlights, those little details that make a face a face. Notice the eyes – big, round, almost cartoonish, but intense. It reminds me that painting is really a conversation, artists talking to each other across time.