Woman with flower 1932

This is Picasso’s ‘Woman with Flower’, painted with oils on canvas, at a rather large scale. What strikes me is how Picasso makes such a riot of colour and form feel so cohesive. You can see the material quality of the paint, thick in some areas, thinned out in others, creating contrasts of texture that vibrate the canvas. Consider the curious face floating at the top of the picture. It looks like an alien in a spaceship, doesn't it? The mouth is like a small, quizzical eye. This weird countenance becomes a kind of focal point. It brings the rest of the figure into focus, even though the body is just a series of overlapping planes and shapes. It is a testament to Picasso’s genius that he can make such a fragmented figure feel so alive. For me, Picasso always feels like a mischievous spirit, a little bit like Picabia. Someone who is constantly testing the limits of what painting can be, and in the process, showing us new ways of seeing the world.