Artist and his model 1926

Pablo Picasso made this painting, "Artist and his model," sometime during his lifetime, using oil on canvas. Look at how the lines wiggle and intersect, creating a wild sense of space; it’s like the canvas is a playground for form. There's something about the raw, almost hesitant quality of the linework that gets me thinking about process. You can tell Picasso is working through something, trying to pin down an idea but allowing it to shift and breathe as he goes. The layers of grey wash create depth, but don't quite succeed, they push forward instead. I love the way he lets the underpainting peek through, reminding us that a painting is always a record of its making. Looking at this piece, I'm reminded of Philip Guston, who similarly embraced a kind of messy, unresolved figuration later in his career. Like Guston, Picasso shows us that art isn't about having all the answers, it's about the ongoing conversation.