Picasso and the Painting That Shocked the World

(Paperback)

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One of The Christian Science Monitors Best Nonfiction Books of 2018

An engrossing reada historically and psychologically rich account of the young Picasso and his coteries in Barcelona and Paris (The Washington Post) and how he achieved his breakthrough and revolutionized modern art through his masterpiece, Les Demoiselles dAvignon.

In 1900, eighteen-year-old Pablo Picasso journeyed from Barcelona to Paris, the glittering capital of the art world. For the next several years he endured poverty and neglect before emerging as the leader of a bohemian band of painters, sculptors, and poets. Here he met his first true love and enjoyed his first taste of fame. Decades later Picasso would look back on these years as the happiest of his long life.

Recognition came first from the avant-garde, then from daring collectors like Leo and Gertrude Stein. In 1907, Picasso began the vast, disturbing masterpiece known as Les Demoiselles dAvignon. Inspired by the painting of Paul Czanne and the inventions of African and tribal sculpture, Picasso created a work that captured the disorienting experience of modernity itself. The painting proved so shocking that even his friends assumed hed gone mad, but over the months and years it exerted an ever greater fascination on the most advanced painters and sculptors, ultimately laying the foundation for the most innovative century in the history of art.

In Picasso and the Painting That Shocked the World, Miles J. Unger combines the personal story of Picassos early years in Parishis friendships, his romances, his great ambition, his fearswith the larger story of modernism and the avant-garde (The Christian Science Monitor). This is the story of an artistic genius with a singular creative gift. It is rivetingThis engrossing book chronicles with precision and enthusiasm a painting with lasting impact in todays art world (Publishers Weekly, starred review), all of it played out against the backdrop of the worlds most captivating city.

Reviews

The birth of modernism a century ago was one of history's greatest moments of creative disruption, including Einstein's physics, Stravinsky's music, and the writings of Joyce and Proust. One major spark was an astonishing painting by Picasso, and Miles Unger brings us both the drama and brilliance of that creation in this thrilling book. -- Walter Isaacson, author of Leonardo da Vinci
Riveting. . . . This engrossing book chronicles with precision and enthusiasm a painting with lasting impact in todays art world. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *
"An engrossing read. . . . Unger draws not just from his own wide knowledge and considered taste but from an imposing array of journals, memoirs, biographies and periodicals. From these he offers a historically and psychologically rich account of the young Picasso and his coteries in Barcelona and Paris."
-- Alexander C. Kafka * The Washington Post *
"Illuminating." -- Barbara Spindel * Christian Science Monitor *
"[A] vibrant biography. . . . Unger succeeds in making Les Demoiselles dAvignon, the books titular painting, accessible. Heady modern art is made over as approachable and exciting." * Booklist *
"Bohemian Montmartre comes brilliantly to life, as do the artists struggles." * The New Yorker *

Author Bio

Miles J. Unger writes on art, books, and culture forThe Economist. Formerly the managing editor ofArt New England, he was a contributing writer toThe New York Times. He is the author ofPicasso and the Painting That Shocked the World; The Watercolors of Winslow Homer;Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de Medici;Machiavelli: A Biography; and Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces.Visit MilesJunger.com.