Bull, Horse, and Reclining Woman III (Femme torero III) 1934

Pablo Picasso made this etching, Bull, Horse, and Reclining Woman III, sometime in his career. It’s like looking at a fever dream, isn’t it? The scene is a tangle of bodies, all rendered in these spare, searching lines. I can imagine Picasso hunched over the plate, his hand moving in a frenzy, trying to capture something just out of reach. I wonder, was he wrestling with his own desires, his own mortality? Look at how those lines create the horse’s snout—so raw and full of animal energy. And then there's the woman, almost dissolving into the background, a victim? Picasso's always playing with us, and he’s having a conversation with painters like Goya. Painting becomes this way to keep the conversation going across time, so that even now, we can join in and see something new.