this book is totally Anti-Picasso, she hardly touches his Art her only concern is ripping him apart.

I've read quite a bit on Picasso and I was quite aware of his abuses to his lovers and his friends. I also like Arianna Huffington. However, this book quickly degrades in what seems like a personal statement or act of retribution against Picasso. While the writing regarding his major works and career highlights is understated with light cast only on the negative aspects of each, his transgressions and shortcomings in both art and his social life are focused on far too much. The result is an unbalanced book that seems wholly predjudiced. One gets the overall feeling that Arianna was one of Picasso's spurned or mistreated lovers and is out for revenge. I prefer more evenly written objective material on historical characters rather then the polarized point of view offerred here. Overall, I would suggest something by John Richardson who I feel is better informed (via his personal relationship with Picasso) and able to cast objective light on one of mankind's great artists and characters.

The " modernism " Picasso launched was basically the conception of the artist's oeuvre as a diary, albeit he probably, along with most qf the art establishment, would be outraged by this point of view. That was his most significant first; his development of form, merely a bi - product of his auto - biographical method. This book enables us to see clearly the connection between the man and the works, instead of the usual european way of clouding the timid author's confusion about a complex artist with politically correct aestheticism. Whether Picasso's works are all, they're hyped up to be, when considered as individual paintings, is for the individual to decide; this book is about the man Picasso, his life, and as such most refreshing.