The Picasso Book

This book, drawing extensively on the most recent research, provides an overview of the whole range of Picasso’s art and career. Uniquely, it takes a thematic approach, examining Picasso and poetry, Picasso and war, Picasso and “disfigurement” — the fragmentation of the human form in his work — Picasso and play, and Picasso’s ruminations on the figure of the artist. The introduction looks at Picasso himself, and the myths that surround him, concluding that it is impossible to disentangle the man from his legend. Separate sections include extracts from Picasso’s poetry and writings and from critics both contemporary and historical.