Rebecca Brown in her lovely and engaging blog-post 'The Stranger,' recently wrote on Romantic Propaganda.  She was referencing in particular a visit to Frederick Church’s home in Ocala in the Hudson River Valley: “It's about knowing, though not wanting to admit, that the best is already behind us; that we have, by our very presence here in this amazing landscape, fucked it up.” 

Picasso has chosen as his subject the motif of the artist painting the model. He has painted himself (as artist) as a king with crown and pantaloons and picadil. He paints himself painting himself. Yet in the canvas we see the artist humbly present himself seated not standing, bald not full, and poor not rich. In this way we understand that the artist's role is too lie.  We present ourselves as something other than the truth perhaps to tell a truth.