Dora Maar 1939

Picasso painted this portrait of Dora Maar with oils on canvas, and it’s easy to imagine him moving the paint around, not necessarily to ‘fix’ an image, but maybe just to see what happens. I look at her face, those eyes gazing in different directions, and I think how the act of painting itself allows us to see the world in a new light. The angular forms and contrasting colors create a sense of dynamism, as if the portrait is constantly shifting and changing before our eyes. And that red! It's a really alive red – pulsing, throbbing. I imagine Picasso putting down brushstroke after brushstroke to get it just right, and maybe not getting it just right. I sympathize with him – I think, I know, so much of painting is about not getting it 'right'. The way Picasso approached painting was kind of conversational. Artists are always in dialogue with one another across time, inspiring each other’s creativity. I like how it embraces uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations. Painting asks us to stay open to surprise and ambiguity.