Glass and fruits 1908

Pablo Picasso made this small still life painting, “Glass and Fruits” with oil on canvas. There’s this real earthy quality, the way Picasso uses color - lots of ochre, greens and reds. He applies it with such directness, like he’s wrestling with the paint. The surface has this uneven texture, almost as if he’s building the forms with layers, one on top of the other. Look at how the light catches the side of the pear, those strokes of ochre are almost sculptural. It's like he’s feeling out the shape as he paints, not just copying what he sees but discovering it. It reminds me of Cezanne, the way he constructed form through color and brushwork. But Picasso brings a different energy, a kind of raw intensity. I think of this piece as a quieter moment in Picasso’s broader exploration of form and space. It reminds us that even the simplest subjects can become a playground for exploring the possibilities of painting.