The transmuted Greek inspiration of Pablo Picasso

"If all the paths I've traveled were marked on a map and connected with a line, it might resemble a Minotaur," Pablo Picasso once said.

The legendary Spaniard from Malaga, a brilliant and versatile artist, never physically journeyed to Greece despite his extensive travels across Europe. Nonetheless, his profound engagement with Greek history and culture is unmistakable in his oeuvre, evident in his depictions inspired by 5th century BC painters like Apollodorus and Zeuxis, the plasticity of Archaic sculptures and 4th century BC sculptor Praxiteles. Greek mythology, too, left an indelible mark on his work, with bull-leaping emerging as a recurring motif in the repertoire of a painter hailed among the vanguard of modernism.

"The Minotaur, centaurs and fauns inhabit Picasso's artistic landscape. Through the lens of metamorphosis, these forms radiate the vitality of life...