Le faune à moustache 1946

Picasso painted this faun, this mythical half-human, half-animal character, with watercolor and ink on paper, using simple, geometric forms. See how he builds up the image, almost like a collage, with flat, translucent washes of color? The paint is really thin, allowing the light to bounce off the paper. It is as if he’s building up the image layer by layer, not trying to hide the process at all. Look at that mossy green triangle right under the faun's nose - it almost seems like an afterthought, yet it balances the darker tones, anchoring the image. The ink outline keeps everything crisp, separating the blocks of colour while also pushing them together. This piece is really interesting in relation to Picasso's other works, especially his Cubist portraits where he played with multiple perspectives, but here, it feels lighter, more playful, like a doodle or a sketch. It reminds me a little of Matisse and his way of using simple, bold shapes. Ultimately, it’s about how we see, how we piece together fragmented information to create a whole image.