Seated Francoise with blue dress 1949

Pablo Picasso painted this portrait of Francoise with a blue dress using oil on canvas. Just imagine Picasso trying to make sense of seeing. The painting feels like it has come into being through a process of trying and failing, shifting between perspectives to give us multiple views all at once. I sympathize with the artist trying to resolve all the images in his mind into one unified whole. What was he thinking when he painted the orange curls sprouting from her head? I suppose the material aspects of painting such as the color, surface, and the physicality of the paint all contribute to the emotional resonances of the work. I am sure artists are in an ongoing conversation with each other through time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting is a form of embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.