Nature morte 1921

This pastel and crayon drawing is one of many ‘still lifes’ Picasso made throughout his career. I like to imagine him hovering over the surface, maybe on a table top, and moving around it to see what happens if he tips it forward, or to the side. I can see him building up the image with layers, adding and subtracting lines, shapes, and colours. I imagine his pleasure in making the grainy marks with dry media, and in balancing the contrast between the cool greys and the warm yellows. There’s something about the stacked planks of wood either side, and the abstracted jug, that reminds me of Morandi, but of course Picasso is doing something entirely different. He’s asking us to consider what it means to see, what it means to represent something on a flat surface, and how the artist can create a sense of depth and space through colour and line.