Interesting programme a while back about the use of the colour blue in art; didn't realise that Picasso's blue period was due to a close friend of his dying, and it then showed him emerging from the depression that engulfed him through his paintings. Far easier to paint something that anyone can recognise [thinking Haywain'y stuff here] than capture an abstract mood. Will any painting show the futility and horror of war the way that Guernica does? As for what's real and not real, well our concept of reality is only our brain's interpretation of the images that channel into it through our eyes [and our other senses] and I'm sure we've all wondered at times if what we see is the same as what others see. Annoyed that I went to Barcelona but didn't have enough time to see the Picasso gallery [it was a trade off with the S.O. see the Gaudi stuff if we could go to Nue Camp for a day and, must admit that I really enjoyed that visit].