Pablo Picasso is perhaps the outstanding figure in the history of art in the twentieth century. His prodigious output is characterized by extraordinary virtuosity and his work is known for its range of styles. His admirers see this dazzling variety as a sure sign of his genius, but for his critics it signals a lack of artistic integrity.

In the first book to look specifically at the phenomenon of style change in Picasso's work, Elizabeth Cowling argues that he came to equate stylistic constancy with lack of freedom and sterility, and that in drawing freely upon the work of other artists he sought to emulate the formal and emotional range of the writer or musician who uses different modes, or of the performer who can adopt different personae at will...

In the first book to look specifically at the phenomenon of style change in Picasso's work, Elizabeth Cowling argues that he came to equate stylistic constancy with lack of freedom and sterility, and that in drawing freely upon the work of other artists he sought to emulate the formal and emotional range of the writer or musician who uses different modes, or of the performer who can adopt different personae at will. Whereas traditionally figurative artists have tended to achieve variety and communicate meaning through their subject matter, Picasso gradually reduced his subject matter to a few standardized motifs, such as the seated or reclining woman, the still life, the artist and his model, using instead a vast array of different styles as the principal means of communicating ideas and feelings. In short, style is meaning in Picasso's art.

Elizabeth Cowling writes with authority, covering the whole of Picasso's career to the Occupation of Paris by the Germans in 1940.She also has a gift for clear exposition, and at the same time reveals a deep insight into his character and motives. Over 600 finely reproduced illustrations, both of Picasso's works and of the sources he drew on, are closely integrated with the text and provide an effective visual counterpoint to the argument. Weaving art, biography and critical interpretation into an absorbing narrative, this important new book is destined to become the one indispensable introduction to the understanding of Picasso and his art.

Preface

Introduction: A Painter without Style

The Art Student 1892-1898

The Symbolist 1899-1904

Ancestral Voices 1904-1908

The Styles of Cubism 1908-1914

Times of Change 1914-1918

Cubism after the War 1918-1924

In Dialogue with the Past 1918-1924

In Surrealist Company 1924-1934

Offensive and Defensive Weapons 1934-1940

Epilogue: La Comedie Humaine

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index of Works by Picasso

General Index

Acknowledgements