Picasso exhibit in Melbourne offers unique insight into his artistic legacy

Picasso’s 'Cat Seizing A Bird' (oil on canvas, 1939). Photo: RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau

What comes to mind when you hear the name Pablo Picasso? For many people, it is his famous Cubist paintings, visually memorable because of their fractured and fragmented shapes. The objects in these paintings are broken apart and reassembled in an abstracted manner, resulting in a collage-like effect with geometric forms.

Cubism, pioneered by Picasso and his friend and fellow painter Georges Braque in Paris in the early 20th century, shocked and fascinated the world. This artistic style went on to become one of the most influential visual art styles of this time.