Teenagers 1906

Pablo Picasso made "Teenagers" at some point in his life, using oil. It’s all about process, right? The way the painting kind of breathes with its own making. There’s a soft, almost faded quality to the colours, like he’s recalling a memory rather than capturing a scene. The surface is smooth, and the paint feels thin, almost transparent in places, letting the canvas peek through, especially in the background. The lines around the figures are so subtle. It’s as if Picasso is gently coaxing these shapes into existence rather than imposing them on the canvas. Look at the legs of the standing figure, how they are slightly different lengths. It’s not about getting it right, it’s about exploring the possibilities. I think about Cezanne when I see this, in the way that he would build up an image through repeated, tentative strokes. The whole thing has a quality of searching, of trying to find form within the flux. Art isn’t about answers, it’s about the questions we ask along the way.