Descripción
This painting shows the “robust, hard, almost brutal line” as described by Patrick O’Brian, which Picasso used in this period, “like a knife wound on the canvas.”
What is wrong with the Master? To understand what is happening to him we have to take into account that this year François Gilot published a book “My Life with Picasso”, something that upset him greatly. Added to this are the problems with his children. In addition, or because of all the things that worried him, he became ill and had to undergo surgery. Whatever the case, he had to undergo surgery at the American Hospital in Neuilly, Paris. He recovered well but this was Pablo’s last trip to Paris.
In the painting the face of a woman has been violently distorted to make it more expressive. She is playing with the child she is carrying in her arms. The scene could have been suggested to Picasso by the gardener’s son, a small child. The scene is intended to be cheerful, as evidenced by the child’s face, but the rest of the painting betrays the artist’s somber feelings.
