The Ultimate Picasso [Hardcover]

Brigitte Leal (Author), Christine Piot (Author), Marie-Laure Bernadac (Author), Jean Leymarie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000

Covers in one volume all the periods of Picasso's long, incredibly versatile career, with exquisite reproductions of nearly every significant work he ever created.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you had to choose just one book about Pablo Picasso, the most protean artist of the 20th century, what would you look for? Copious, good-quality reproductions. An authoritative account of the way his approach to painting was influenced by his personality, the women in his life, and his awareness of art made by others. An in-depth treatment of key works like Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (which Picasso memorably called his "first exorcism painting") and signature themes, like the half-man, half-animal Minotaur. Then there's the question of tone. Some books cast Picasso as a demigod or a destroyer. Others, like art historian John Richardson's A Life of Picasso, offer a more balanced, psychologically penetrating portrait of the artist.

Hefty, elegant, and inclusive, The Ultimate Picasso hits most, though not all, of these marks. It offers more than 1,200 reproductions (nearly 800 in color) spanning the artist's entire career. Smoothly translated from the French, the book weaves biographical detail and discussions of the art into a concise narrative. ("Olga became pregnant in the summer of 1920, and in Picasso's work forms blossomed and flesh took on the massive quality of stone.") The three authors are all experts--Léal and Bernadac are (respectively) present and former curators of the Musée Picasso in Paris, and Piot coauthored the catalogue raisonné of Picasso's sculpture. They clearly explain visual sources, duly acknowledge leading art historians' interpretations, and choose good quotes from contemporaries. Yet the text can be surprisingly skimpy. The 16-page section on Guernica, for example, has barely two pages of discussion about the painting and its genesis. The authors keep an extremely tight focus on their subject, with only as much mention of Picasso's contemporaries or the outside world as is absolutely necessary.

The major flaws, however, are the authors' hyperbolic view of their subject ("Picasso did not paint nature, but the suffering of the men and women of his time, creating from it beauty and truth") and the lack of any psychological insight about the repeated devastation Picasso wreaks on the female form. In this old-fashioned portrait of the male artist as genius, human failings do not exist, unless they belong to somebody else. --Cathy Curtis

From Booklist

Can we exhaust the visual pleasure we derive from looking at Picasso's work? Can another book on Picasso offer anything more about this twentieth-century artist that we have not learned from the others (see Geoffroy-Schneiter above)? In the preface, Jean Leymarie recalls Picasso boasting that "a book would have to be written on him every day to keep up with his rhythm and his surges of creativity." All we can conclude is that this book is the ultimate. It combines all the periods of his career and touts having "nearly" every significant work he ever created in its 1,235 illustrations. Leal writes the essays in the first section on the early years, 1881-1916. This leisurely paced section certainly teaches things about Picasso that many will find fresh and involving, and throughout the extensive illustration program makes it easier to trace the development of the painter's ideas. Discovering the change in 1906 that points the way to the Picasso we moderns know well is quite satisfying. Bonnie Smothers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 504 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810939401
• ISBN-13: 978-0810939400
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 11.8 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Cubism

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for all Picasso enthusiasts!, January 4, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Picasso (Hardcover)

Pablo Picasso's was one of the most innovative, experimental, prolific, influential, and controversial painters of the twentieth century. In The Ultimate Picasso, Brigitte Leal covers Picasso's formative years from 1881 through 1916 (including his invention of Cubism with Georges Braque). Christine Piot explores Picasso's productive period from 1917 through 1952. Marie-Laure Bernadac surveys the artistic vigor of Picasso's later years from 1953 until hi death in 1973. The Ultimate Picasso's informative, engaging text is profusely illustration with 1200 magnificent reproductions (720 in full color) document-ing Picasso's phenomenal range of artistic expression throughout his life. The Ultimate Picasso is an essential, core addition to any personal or academic art history collection, and is a very highly recommended "Memorial Fund" acquisition choice for community libraries.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate Picasso artwork reference., July 13, 2006

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acltaos (Taos, NM, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ultimate Picasso (Paperback)

I took this book out of our university library to have on hand while reading Françoise Gilot's "Living with Picasso", in order to see representations of the artwork to which she refers throughout the book. "The Ultimate Picasso" proved invaluable. Not only does it contain Picasso's complete major works, they are also presented in chronological order which made look-up easy despite Gilot's often describing an artwork and the process used to create it but not always giving its title (she always gives dates). I ordered "The Ultimate Picasso" before the library due date because I couldn't bear to not have the book in my house!
The photos of the artwork are brilliant and crisp, and the accompanying text is informative.
You will not be disappointed by this book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful plates but a bit short on detail, April 30, 2009

By 

Stacy E. Lewis "stacylewis" (Louisburg, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Ultimate Picasso (Paperback)

As an artist I have mixed feelings about this book. The number and quality of reproductions are wonderful - the book is well worth purchasing just for the visual references! For someone interested in Picasso's daily life and creative skills it was a bit disappointing. Each section was well written and very readable. However, the attempt to condense such a lengthy time span of artistic achievement resulted in many parts of the book following a sort of "travelogue" litany - in this year he lived in this city and created these pieces, the next summer he moved to another city and created these others, etc. I think that in their attempt to leave no work unmentioned the authors became mere cataloguers.
Since reading this book I've read the three volumes of John Richardson's "Life of Picasso". I'm glad I started with "The Ultimate Picasso" for two reasons - firstly, the number of color plates (the Richardson books are a bit scanty on pics, and most are in black and white), and secondly, the "Ultimate" served as a wonderful appetizer - without it I'm not sure my interest would have sustained me through the Richardson volumes. I would definitely recommend that anyone interested in Picasso purchase both the "Ultimate" and "Life" books. Between them they provide a fascinating look at the life and the art of this amazing artist!