Author(s): John Berger

Fine Art

Contending that 'for Picasso, what he is is far more important than what he does', this prescient 1965 work of criticism from the author of Ways of Seeing explores art, celebrity, commerce and the mass media. Investigating every aspect of Picasso's life and work - from the Blue Period through Cubism and the compositions that culminated in Guernica and beyond - John Berger's study of the 'undisputed emperor of modern art' is also a penetrating look at our age.

How do we see the world around us? This is one of a number of pivotal works by creative thinkers whose writings on art, design and the media have changed our vision for ever.

In this classic of art criticism, one of our foremost cultural historians grapples with the life and work of one of the twentieth century's most mercurial and prodigious artists. In The Success and Failure of Picasso, John Berger places the artist in the historical, social and political contexts that made his work possible.