Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0894682687, Paperback)

This collection of essays focuses on Pablo Picasso's formative years as an artist, specifically the period between 1892 and 1906 when--between the ages of 11 and 24--he was developing and refining the style that would one day launch movements. The hundreds of drawings and plates vividly displayed here range from the familiar to the obscure, allowing the reader to follow the artist's transformation from gifted youth to master of the form. Though the essays vary widely in scope, all the contributors agree that the pieces created during this phase of Picasso's life stand on their own merits, rather than existing merely as studious footnotes to the painter's body of work. Launched from this perspective, the text celebrates this less-celebrated period while moving in some unexpected directions: Picasso's reliance on his drawing education; his friends and influences; and the historical and political background of some of the places in which he lived and worked. In all, a fascinating study of the man and the making of a legendary life.