Picasso. Style and meaning

Elizabeth Cowling argues that Picasso came to equate stylistic inconsistency with sterility, and that in drawing freely upon the work of other artists, he sought to emulate the formal and emotional range of the actor who can adopt different personae at will. In short, style is meaning in Picasso´s art; his notoriously mercurial nature found expression in stylistic variety and experimentation.Elizabeth Cowling attempts to weave biography and analysis into a compelling narrative. The 600 illustrations include all of Picasso´s major works up to the beginning of World War II, and these are juxtaposed with their sources - Old Masters, contemporary artists, found objects, and Picasso´s own drawings and sketches - to make a visually telling counterpoint to the arguments of the text.