Woman with Hat (Femme au chapeau) 1963

This is Picasso's "Woman with Hat," and I'm immediately struck by the sheer bizarreness of it all! Imagine Picasso, brush in hand, circling around his canvas, trying to capture not just a face, but the essence of a person. I bet he started with a flurry of lines, then those bold colors – that sunny yellow, that cool blue – start fighting for space. It’s like he’s wrestling with perception itself. You can see him pushing and pulling at the features, distorting them just enough to reveal something deeper. Look at how he's split the face right down the middle! It's a bold move and reminds me of how we all wear different masks, showing different sides of ourselves depending on who we're with. Ultimately, Picasso invites us to see beyond the surface, to embrace the multiplicity of perspectives, and to revel in the sheer joy of seeing the world anew. That's what it means to be a painter.