Seated woman on wooden chair 1941

This is Picasso’s "Seated Woman on Wooden Chair" from around now, forever, made with paint and probably a brush, and some serious looking. The painting is not about trying to capture something realistically, it’s more about the experience of looking. The paint feels thin and washy, but the lines are strong, kind of like he was feeling his way around the shapes as he painted them. I like how he breaks down the face into different planes. He shows us that you can look at a person from many angles at once. Check out the eyes: one is a circle, the other is an almond, each seeing something different. The texture isn't built up, it's more about how those lines create depth. And the colors, those greens and reds, are like a stage set for this woman's powerful presence. This reminds me of Francis Picabia who also embraced the multiple perspectives in his paintings of mechanical forms. In both, it’s about keeping the conversation going, keeping things open and never settling on one way of seeing.