Minotaur with Chalice in Hand and Young Woman (Minotaure, une coupe a la main, et jeune femme) 1933

This is an etching by Pablo Picasso, and right away you can see how confident and playful he is with line. It’s all about the give and take, how he lets the ink and the plate do their thing, and how he responds. Look at the way the Minotaur’s curls sit against the woman's face. It's a delicate, almost sensual, dance between the human and the monstrous. And then there’s that chalice – or is it a bowl? – held up as if offering a toast to… what, exactly? It’s ambiguous, like a question hanging in the air. You can see that Picasso is influenced by the bold style of Matisse, who himself had been influenced by the directness and simplicity of folk art. What I love about Picasso, and about art in general, is this sense of ongoing conversation. It’s not about having all the answers, but about keeping the questions alive.