Seated woman (Jacqueline) 1960

Pablo Picasso made this painting, Seated Woman, with oil on canvas. I love how the forms appear to almost construct themselves before our eyes; they aren't set, but fluid. I think about Picasso’s process, the way he builds up the face with layered brushstrokes. Look at the way he renders the eyes – one frontal and one in profile, a flattening that also gives a sense of volume. The surface is so alive. His application of paint feels both intuitive and deliberate. The color palette, dominated by reds, blues and blacks, is not trying to trick you into thinking this is 'real.' Picasso reminds us that it's just a painting; in fact, it is precisely through its artifice that the painting comes alive. This is what connects him to artists like Matisse, who saw color as a constructive force.