Poet 1911

Picasso made this painting, Poet, with oil on canvas, and it's all about the process, you know? Look at the browns and whites, how they build up the form. The paint isn't too thick, but you can see the strokes, the way he layered it. It's like he's building the poet from the ground up, piece by piece. Check out the way he renders the hands holding a musical instrument, maybe a guitar. It is a flurry of planes and angles, a tactile symphony of form and feeling. It reminds me of Braque, his pal and fellow cubist, how they both were trying to break down the world and rebuild it on the canvas, bit by bit, with a limited colour palette. Art, for them, and for us, is about seeing and feeling, not just copying.