Female nude 1941

This is one of Picasso's nudes made with oil on canvas, and you can see how he is already breaking away from traditional form. There’s this real looseness in the way he's applied the paint, a kind of sketchiness, which tells you he’s more interested in the process, the doing, than in a finished, polished product. The colors are muted – grays, browns, ochres – but there’s a richness in the shadows, and how the light hits the body. The paint isn't super thick, but you can feel the texture, see the strokes. It’s not trying to hide itself. I'm drawn to the way Picasso renders the hair, it’s almost like a dark cloud, heavy and expressive. It feels like he’s using the hair to convey emotion, a kind of inner turmoil maybe. This piece, for me, feels like it's in conversation with Matisse, who was also exploring the figure, but with a totally different sensibility. It’s all part of this big, ongoing conversation about what painting can be.