I've never particularly liked the majority of Pablo Picasso's abstract work, so I was surprised to discover the powerful impression that the figurative painting below made on me, and many others currently hanging in the Picasso retrospective at the Zurich Kunsthaus.
Seated Woman (1921), Pablo Picasso, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, GermanyThe painting is larger than life but what makes it particularly impressive is the sense of depth that gives you the impression that the figure is a three-dimensional sculpture rather than a two-dimensional painting (an effect that is lost in photo reproductions).