Man with pipe 1968

This is a painting by Pablo Picasso, called "Man with Pipe." Just look at those thick lines of black and white, twisting and turning, like he’s building the man out of stripes! And that blue face, so cool against the warm background. I can almost feel the smoke curling around my own face just looking at it. I wonder what Picasso was thinking when he painted this guy. Was he a friend, or just someone he saw in his mind's eye? You can feel him searching for form, trying out different ways of seeing. It’s so physical, I think Picasso needed to get the image out of himself to see what it could be. There's something about the way he layers paint that reminds me of other painters, like maybe Francis Picabia, or even de Kooning. It’s like they’re all having a conversation across time, pushing and pulling at the boundaries of what painting can be. It's all one big conversation. And we get to listen in!