Painter and his model 1963

Pablo Picasso made "Painter and his model" with oil on canvas. It has all of those acidic greens and oranges, so it looks as though the painting has been lit with a construction light! There is a tension between the flatness of the picture and the illusion of depth. What does it mean to see Picasso here, in the act of seeing and making? The painting feels generative, like a lab where forms are evolving. I like the way he has rendered the easel, all awkward and clunky, like a big machine. But then the hand holding the brush is so delicate, like a little bird, and there is a real tenderness in the way it reaches out to the canvas. I see something of Beckmann’s claustrophobia and cartoonish edge in this painting, but with a looseness and fluidity that is all Picasso’s own. Ultimately, this is a painting about painting, about the endless possibilities and the inherent contradictions of the art form.