Untitled 1920

This is an Untitled painting, by Pablo Picasso, made with oil on canvas. It’s not dated, but I see in the painting a process of simplification and abstraction, which gives the shapes their power. Picasso has used bold, flat areas of color, and a kind of graphic clarity, to create a still life where the objects seem both present and strangely distorted. Look at how the white of the tablecloth meets the ochre background, it's such a casual and confident combination of shades! And then, the dark brown strokes beneath the table – they anchor the whole composition. It reminds me of other artists like Braque, who were exploring similar ideas around the same time, each pushing the boundaries of representation. There’s a playful ambiguity in the way he’s rendered the objects. It’s an invitation to look closer, to feel the tension between what we see and what we think we know.