The Fourteenth of July 1901

Picasso's "The Fourteenth of July" is a revelry of paint, capturing a moment with a loaded brush and a riot of color. The thick, almost aggressive daubs of paint give the scene a raw, immediate feel. Look closely, and you can see how the blues and whites of the sky are echoed in the crowd below, blurring the lines between the event and the atmosphere. It's as if the energy of the celebration is literally rising off the canvas. My eye keeps getting drawn to the upper-left corner, where the green foliage meets the sky. The clashing hues create this weird vibration that just makes the whole scene feel alive. It reminds me a little of the Fauvist painters. There's a similar disregard for naturalistic color, and an embrace of the painting as an arena for pure, unadulterated expression. And that’s what art is all about, right? Less about what you see, and more about how it makes you feel.