Woman with straw hat on flowery background 1938

Picasso painted this, 'Woman with straw hat on flowery background' in 1938, and you can see how he’s having fun with the push and pull of color, particularly that hot pink and fleshy palette. It feels like an act of pure invention. Looking closely, there are so many juicy moments. The way the face is split into different profiles, with the green shading suggesting a kind of mask or distortion. I love how the hat is rendered with this simple grid, almost like a child’s drawing, yet it holds its own against the complexity of the face. The black lines are so alive, they're like quick jolts of energy that jump off the canvas. This piece reminds me a little of Matisse, especially in the decorative flatness of the background, but Picasso’s version is more fractured, more psychologically charged. It’s a reminder that art is always a conversation, a back-and-forth between artists and ideas, and there’s never just one right way to see things.