Man and Woman 1971

"Man and Woman" was made by Pablo Picasso on June 5th, 1971, using oil on canvas. The painting is mostly in cool blues, off-whites, and stark black lines. Looking at this painting, I imagine Picasso, in his late years, still wrestling with how to depict the human form. The paint isn’t overly thick, but you can see the quickness of his gestures, almost like he’s sketching with the brush. See how the black outlines drip in places? It's like he's pushing the paint to its limit, making it perform. I wonder if he was thinking about Matisse, who also used simple lines to describe complex shapes. Or maybe he was just having a conversation with himself about what it means to see and represent the world. He’s using the surface, manipulating paint, line and tone to try and reveal something about love and relationships. You can feel the tension and energy in every brushstroke. Artists are always building on what came before, taking cues from each other across time. It’s an ongoing dialogue. And for me, that's what makes painting so exciting.