No artist enjoys greater popularity than Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), and no other artist has been exhibited more often or studied so intensely. Yet there is still uncharted territory on the map of his extensive oeuvre: the seaside scenes that fascinated Picasso throughout his life - from his early Cubist period in the first years of the twentieth century to his late work of the nineteen-sixties. Returning again and again to this theme, Picasso developed a series of novel approaches in form and content whose richness and radical unconventionality derive from his observations of uninhibited movements of bodies in the open air. The subject, so close to the heart of the century's leading artist, is illuminated in this richly illustrated volume featuring color reproductions of more than 130 works from all of Picasso's creative periods. Comparable works by artists known to have inspired Picasso - among them Cézanne, Matisse, Renoir, Derain, Braque, Léger and Miró - complete this unprecedented panorama. (English edition ISBN 978-3-7757-1603-1) Exhibition schedule: Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, June 18-October 16, 2005