Sculptor at Rest I (Le repos du sculpteur I) 1933

Pablo Picasso made this print, Sculptor at Rest I, and it's all about lines, you know, those simple lines that somehow hold so much. I’m fascinated by the way Picasso uses line to create such a sense of depth and form. It's like he's thinking aloud, each stroke a decision, a little experiment. Look at the sculptor's beard; it's a whole world of tiny, swirling marks, building up volume and texture. It's almost like he's carving into the paper itself. And then there's the way he suggests the curves of the reclining figure with just a few elegant lines. It reminds me a little of Matisse, that same love of the simple, the essential, but with a bit more of an edge, a bit more of that restless energy that's so Picasso. It’s like he’s always pushing, always questioning, never quite satisfied, which is, maybe, what being an artist is all about.