Fifty years after Picasso's death, this magnificent collection of drawings offers a career-spanning tour of the artist's brilliant and dynamic use of line and a window into the heart and soul of the most prolific aspect of his oeuvre.

From his early studies to his final works, drawing was, for Picasso, an ever-renewing exploration of the powers of the line. Comprising over three hundred reproductions from his massive oeuvre, this collection features both well-received and rarely seen works, as well as images from his extraordinary notebooks. It features fifty penetrating essays that examine the themes, symbols and techniques that echo throughout Picasso's career-from monsters, crucifixions, and self-portraits to crayon, crosshatching, and ink. It includes book illustrations and plans for sculptures, color and figure studies, collage and journal entries. Stunning full-color reproductions allow readers to appreciate the enormous inventiveness and diversity of Picasso's work, from serpentine lines to hatched drawing, from the delicate nuances of pastel to the deep blacks of ink.Accompanying the largest-ever exhibition of Picasso's drawings and engravings, this gorgeous volume is a must-have for students and fans of one of the greatest artists of the modern era.