Untitled 1958

Editor: This is an Untitled oil painting from 1958 by Pablo Picasso, currently hanging in the Hermitage. I’m struck by the texture of the paint; it looks like thick impasto. What does that materiality say about the way Picasso conceived of painting? Curator: I see here a breakdown, or rather a making visible, of the traditional separation between painting and object. Notice how the oil paint is built up. How does that affect our perception of this painting as an *object*, made by labor? Editor: It’s almost as if the painting itself becomes a sculptural form. Did the ready availability of oil paint, compared to other materials perhaps, influence this exploration? Curator: Exactly! The mass production and increased accessibility of oil paints in tubes during Picasso's time allowed for greater experimentation. Before, pigments were ground by hand, and this painting disrupts all that labor. Look how freely it is used to render what seems to be an interior. Editor: So the painting is less about illusionistic representation, and more about... Curator: About revealing the process, about acknowledging the inherent materiality of the paint itself. This subverts the conventional art market by focusing less on the "subject" and more on the labor and material put in to its manufacturing. How might our understanding of value change with that shift? Editor: I suppose by looking at the painting as an object produced within a certain material and social environment we are better understanding Picasso’s artistic choices? Curator: Precisely! And from there we can consider larger economic systems that facilitate and value that artistic labor. Editor: I never thought about it that way, that this was about production as much as representation. I will keep that in mind when approaching new art in the future.