Flautist and Young Girl with Tambourine (Flutiste et jeune fille au tambourin) 1934

This is Picasso’s etching, Flautist and Young Girl with Tambourine, and it feels like he made it in one breath. It's the kind of drawing where the line keeps moving, almost like it’s discovering the forms as it goes, not labored or overworked, but intuitive. I love how Picasso uses simple lines to suggest so much. You can see the faintest lines, almost ghostly, outlining the figures and their classical drapery. Then there's the girl’s foot, so lightly rendered it is barely there at all. It makes you wonder about the pressure he put on the plate, how he decided what to emphasize and what to leave to our imagination. It's like he's inviting us to finish the drawing ourselves, to participate in the act of creation. It reminds me of Matisse’s line drawings, that same sense of effortless grace, but with Picasso’s own kind of energy. It's about the conversation between artists across time, each responding to the other, and embracing ambiguity as a strength.