Seated woman (Olga) 1920

Pablo Picasso made this pencil drawing of a seated woman, Olga, and it's all about the line. The marks are delicate, searching, like he's feeling his way around her form. It's more about the process of looking than capturing a perfect likeness. See how the lines around her shoulders are soft and smudged, creating a hazy atmosphere, while the lines defining her leg are more definite? There’s a real sensitivity to the pressure of the pencil. The drawing reminds me of Ingres, another master of line. But where Ingres sought a kind of idealized perfection, Picasso seems more interested in the raw, imperfect act of seeing. It's like he's inviting us to witness his own struggle to understand and represent the world. And in that struggle, he reveals something more profound than mere surface appearance. The piece captures the energy and ambiguity that makes art so alive.