Tête de femme au chapeau 1965

This is Pablo Picasso's “Head of a Woman with a Hat” – painted with oils, maybe quickly, maybe slowly, who knows? I feel like Picasso was really having fun here. The woman's face is green, like she’s from another planet. The paint is applied in these big, juicy brushstrokes, and you can almost see him pushing the paint around on the canvas, trying things out, not being too precious. The hat itself is wild, like some kind of crazy crown. Those heavy outlines make this painting pop. It's like he’s saying, "Here I am, painting a face, but I’m also just making marks, having a laugh, seeing what happens.” It reminds me of Matisse, or even some of the Fauves – all these artists pushing the boundaries of what painting can be. We all riff on each other, artists, always have, always will. That's the joy of painting – a conversation across time and space, full of accidents, surprises, and endless possibilities.