Art historian John Richardson's final Picasso book arrives in November

A close-up of the cover image released by Knopf shows 'A Life Of Picasso: The Minotaur Years, 1933-1943,' by John Richardson. Photo: Knopf via AP

In the fall of 2018, art historian John Richardson fell critically ill and died the following March, at age 95. He left behind a distinguished record as a critic, curator and biographer and questions about the fate of one of the art world's longest awaited volumes, his fourth and final book on Pablo Picasso.

Shelley Wanger, his editor at Alfred A. Knopf, explained during a recent interview that she and Richardson had been working "on a typed manuscript” that they would review together when she came to see him each week. By the time he was hospitalised, they had what she calls "essentially a finished manuscript,” save for end notes, illustrations and some additional research.