Mother and child 1953

Here we have something by Picasso that might be a painting of a wooden sculpture of a mother and child, or maybe it is itself a painted wooden sculpture! I think about Picasso in his studio, surrounded by sculptures, paintings, drawings, and a lot of light, trying to find new ways of seeing. It's almost like he's building up the figures, piece by piece, like a child playing with blocks. The green dotted legs connect to angular, cubist bodies in white and blue. It’s as if Picasso wanted to show the viewer the inner structure of his figures. Do you see how the paint is applied roughly, with visible brushstrokes, making it feel immediate? I think Picasso’s genius was to suggest a world that is fragmented, but also somehow whole. Painters like Picasso continue to inspire other artists, pushing us to experiment and see what we can create with our own hands and ideas. Each generation responds in their way.