Dora Maar with Cat 1941

Picasso painted ‘Dora Maar with Cat’ using oil on canvas with his signature bright, contrasting colours and distorted forms. I imagine the scene, Picasso circling the canvas, brush dancing, trying to capture the essence of Dora, her complex personality, maybe even their tumultuous relationship. Look at that acid green he uses for her face, juxtaposed with the deep reds and purples of her dress. It’s like he's not just painting what he sees, but what he feels. And that little black cat perched behind her? Almost an afterthought, yet it adds this layer of domestic unease, a hint of the wildness beneath the surface. It reminds me of some of my own struggles with portraiture. How do you convey the inner life of someone, their contradictions, their hidden depths? I bet Picasso was asking himself the same questions. In the end, it's not about perfect representation, but about finding a way to make the painting itself a site of inquiry. A conversation that continues long after the paint is dry.