Bust of a woman 1935

This is Picasso's "Bust of a Woman", and he made it with oil paint. Look at how he's building a face out of colored shapes. It's like he's not just painting what he sees, but how he thinks and feels about seeing. The colors are intense; that bright blue background really makes the green face pop. And the way he applies the paint – it's not trying to hide itself, you can see the texture, the little imperfections. That orange wedge suggests a nose, but it’s also just a flat shape of color, existing on its own terms. It’s a nose but also not a nose; Picasso is playing with ambiguity. It puts me in mind of Léger, but Picasso is doing something entirely his own. It's all about opening up possibilities.