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 remains the most exhibited artist in history, and the artists he inspired - from Moore to Miró, Renoir to Warhol - shaped and shifted Modernism.