Jacqueline with flowers 1954

Jacqueline with flowers, made by Pablo Picasso, is hanging here at the Musée Picasso in Paris. Picasso's handling of paint is just fascinating, isn't it? Look at the flatness, the way the colours don't blend. It's like he's building the image, piece by piece. There’s a very particular blue in the background, slightly muted, with these very simple pale flowers and dark foliage. Now, zero in on Jacqueline's face. Her profile is so sharp, those angular planes defining her features. And then there's her neck – so long and elegant. It's like Picasso is playing with geometry, turning a person into a series of shapes and lines. This angularity relates to the angularity of Cubism in general, where an image is broken down into geometric shapes and patterns, as if the artist is trying to look at the image from several viewpoints simultaneously. Picasso continued to engage with the possibilities of representing the human form throughout his life, always exploring new and inventive approaches. He’s in conversation with artists throughout history, from the Old Masters to his contemporaries. It's like one big, messy, beautiful dialogue.