Summer landscape 1902

Picasso made this small landscape painting with oil on wood panel; it's a warm ochre scene punctuated by trees. I wonder what Picasso was thinking about when he made this? I like to imagine it was a study, a trial. Maybe he was working out how to approach a larger canvas, or maybe he was just experimenting with color, feeling his way through the landscape. The paint is applied in thin layers, almost like watercolor, allowing the wood grain to show through in places. See how the brushstrokes follow the contours of the hills and the shapes of the trees. I love the little cluster of marks that suggest a fence, and the way he's captured the feeling of heat and light. This piece makes me think of Cezanne's landscapes and the way he built up form with small, deliberate strokes. Like Cezanne, Picasso invites us to see the world in a new way, a world built from color, light, and touch.