The Fortune 1901

"The Fortune" by Pablo Picasso is a 47 x 30 cm piece and it looks to me like it’s made with chalk or charcoal. It's about mark-making as a way to get to some kind of feeling, not to make a perfect picture. There’s this see-through quality to the colors, especially in the woman’s dress. It’s like he's letting us peek at the structure underneath. Look at the way the charcoal lines sort of scratch and scumble across the surface. It's not blended; it's raw, like he’s drawing with energy. The best part is how he draws the faces in the bottom corner. The marks are almost scribbled, just a few lines, but they capture this intense, almost sinister gaze. For me, this piece feels like a conversation with artists like Degas, who was also into capturing fleeting moments and backstage glimpses. It shows how art is always talking to itself, picking up on ideas and pushing them further. What does it tell you?