Guitar and Violin 1912

This painting, Guitar and Violin, was made by Pablo Picasso with oil on canvas. Picasso’s process here is all about breaking things down and building them back up again. Look at how the muted browns and greys create a puzzle-like structure; you can almost feel him figuring it out as he goes. The textures are so tactile, thick in some places, almost sanded away in others. It’s like he’s not just showing us a guitar and violin, but also the act of seeing them. Notice the way the violin’s scroll sort of unwinds, echoing that wavey blue pattern near the top, it’s like a visual rhyme that ties the whole composition together. The color palette in this piece reminds me of Braque, his fellow Cubist. But where Braque is all about harmony, Picasso’s got this wild energy. Ultimately, this painting isn’t about fixed answers, it’s about the joy of questioning and reinventing, an ongoing conversation about how we see the world.