Pablo Picasso Spanish, 1881-1973

Arguably the defining artist of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso led the transition out of Realism with inimitable panache. Never before or since has an artist been such a conversation piece; a persona not only in the art world, but in the modern world as a whole. Picasso's sphere of influence reached into a panoply of genres and art forms, from abstraction and Cubism to printmaking and ceramics. As such, his impact was phenomenal, and is still present in art and society. Picasso’s sizable oeuvre grew to include over 20,000 paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures,ceramics, theater sets, and costume designs. He painted his most famous work, Guernica (1937), in response to the Spanish Civil War; the totemic grisaille canvas remains a definitive work of anti-war art. At auction, a number of Picasso’s paintings have sold for more than $100 million. The indefatigable artist has been the subject of exhibitions at the world’s most prestigious institutions, from the Museum of Modern Art and Centre Pompidou to the Stedelijk Museum and Tate Modern. Picasso remains the most exhibited artist in history, and the artists he inspired - from Moore to Miró, Renoir to Warhol - shaped and shifted Modernism.