Maison au toit rouge 1933

Pablo Picasso conjured this house with a red roof using oil on canvas. There's such a playful quality to the brushstrokes here, almost childlike. I can picture Picasso outside, squinting in the bright sunlight and trying to capture the essence of the scene. Did he start with the roof, that vibrant splash of red, and then let the rest of the painting grow organically around it? The greens are so lush and varied, from the dark, almost black shadows to the bright, almost neon, highlights. There is a sense of depth and texture that he has built up with layers of paint, so that you can almost smell the damp earth and feel the warmth of the sun. It reminds me of my own process, how I try to let the painting guide me, rather than trying to force my will onto it. We are all just responding to each other, aren’t we?