Flautist and Three Nudes (Flûtiste et trois femmes nues) 1932

Picasso gave us this etching of a Flautist and Three Nudes sometime in his career, using simple lines on a plate. It’s all about process, you know, scratching away to find the image, not unlike how we feel our way through life. The crazy thing is how minimal it is – just outlines, but they suggest so much. Look at the way he defines the bodies with single, confident strokes. Like, the curve of a back, the slope of a shoulder, it’s all there with the fewest marks possible. It’s like he’s saying, "Here’s the essence, take it or leave it." My eye keeps going to the flautist’s face, how it’s both there and not there, a ghost of a profile. Picasso always played with seeing and not seeing, presence and absence. It's kind of like Cy Twombly, but with figures, not words. It's not supposed to be nailed down; it's more of a suggestion, an invitation to dream.