Woman with braid 1971

Picasso made this big painting, *Woman with braid,* with oils on canvas. You can see how the grey and umber washes of color are put down in these big, gestural marks. Looking at it, I imagine him circling the canvas, always trying to find a way into the painting. What kind of struggle was he having? Was he frustrated that day, or excited? Maybe he was thinking about other artists, like Cezanne, or Matisse, who also pulled figures apart, or constructed them from a feeling. The paint is brushed on thinly, in transparent layers, kind of tentative. Except for the dark lines around the eyes and the black shadow that defines the hands and breasts – those are more forceful. Like the artist is wrestling with it. I feel like artists are in constant conversation, looking, stealing, borrowing, arguing, agreeing... It's a never ending process of inspiration and exchange. I love that painting embraces ambiguity and uncertainty. It allows for many ideas, rather than fixed or final readings.