Maria Agustina Sarmiento (Velazquez) 1957

Picasso made this painting of Maria Agustina Sarmiento with oil on canvas. Look at that blue, and how it feels as if it's defining the space for the figure. What I love about this painting is how Picasso isn’t afraid to just let the brushstrokes sit there, rough and present. You can almost see him thinking, questioning, and searching as he paints. He's wrestling with Velazquez but also totally free, just like his brushwork: loose and expressive. I can imagine him stepping back, squinting, adding a line, then another. There's a real conversation happening here, across centuries. It's like painters are always talking to each other, riffing off one another's ideas and techniques. Every mark is a question, an answer, a little bit of both. It reminds me that painting is an ongoing exploration of possibilities.