Bathers Drying Themselves 1909

Pablo Picasso made this painting, Bathers Drying Themselves, with oil on canvas. Look at how the colours are laid down in hatched marks, creating a very palpable sense of volume, this is the process right there on the surface. The earthy palette is very physical. It’s all browns and creams and the figures are almost lost in the landscape, or maybe they’re emerging from it, hard to tell. The brushstrokes are like slices, each one catching the light. Have you noticed how the surface has a kind of crusty quality? The texture is like the dry, cracked earth. Then there are these vertical marks, like rain, or tears perhaps. I’m reminded of Cezanne and his bathers, the way he built up form with colour. Ultimately, art isn't about definitive answers. It’s about embracing ambiguity and multiple readings.