Man with ice-cream cone 1938

Curator: So, here we have Picasso’s 1938 pencil drawing on paper, "Man with Ice-Cream Cone." It's quite striking, don't you think? Editor: Immediately, the frenetic energy leaps out! It’s this beautiful dance of light and shadow. Almost a nervous agitation in the lines. It’s simple, but not simplistic. I see a portrait and more of a glimpse into a psyche at war. Curator: That's an interesting take! He often created art that had the intention to do just that! I see echoes of Cubism, fragmented perspective in the facial features and this loose hatching suggests not only form, but perhaps the instability brewing in Europe at that time. I feel that looking into it more the ice cream, such a banal, joyful object, is juxtaposed against a rather tormented portrait. A symbol, maybe, of fleeting pleasure against a backdrop of turmoil. Editor: Precisely! And the hat, askew, feels deliberately disheveled. It’s almost like the image of carefree enjoyment, corrupted. Think of hats and headdresses in paintings, they symbolize dignity, power, or station. Here? I read something different. Maybe an intentionally ungraceful state, as though the "man's" external appearance does not match the internal feelings. Even his eyes! Uneven, mismatched... It doesn’t evoke immediate comfort. Curator: Definitely not. Picasso’s portraits are rarely comforting, and especially during this era when art became his language to dissect the self and society! Perhaps it's also hinting at something of the performative nature of joy or, a hollow symbol. Even though the symbol of 'ice cream' is a source of happiness. A bit dark if I can add. Editor: The 'drawing' captures the moment with stark beauty; what lingers with me is how he layers conflicting emotional depths through ordinary subjects. It's almost like cultural symbols were twisted! He has created the essence of an 'icon'! He asks us about joy! Curator: True... even an object like ice cream can become quite menacing when wielded with Picasso's artistic sensibility. The man with the cone holds up our values to us... a sort of inverted image we need in order to grow and progress. Editor: And that tension, it elevates it, it's more than just paper and pencil marks. It is as though Picasso takes this simple scenario and asks what the hell does this "ice cream cone" really represent? This symbol! Curator: Well put. That final dissonance is really the strength of it!