The Fourteenth of July 1901

Picasso’s Fourteenth of July is an explosion of color laid down in thick strokes of blues, reds, whites, and greens. I imagine him there in front of the canvas, attacking it almost, figuring it out as he went along. The painting feels raw and visceral, like he’s trying to capture the energy of the Bastille Day celebrations rather than depicting what they looked like. See the way he’s built up the surface, layering the paint so that it almost feels sculptural? The colors are all mixed up—the blue running into the white and the red bleeding into the green—and yet, somehow, it all comes together. This kind of all-over composition reminds me of Monet’s Impressionism, but with a harder, more angular edge, like Cezanne. And that single stroke of white in the lower center – is that a flag? Or just a flash of something brighter than all the rest? Maybe it’s nothing at all, but I feel the way that stroke animates everything around it! He probably didn't plan it, but put it there because it felt right. Painters are always playing with the possibilities of the medium like this. Experimenting, learning from each other, but always pushing the boundaries of what painting can be.