You may not like Picasso very much. You may even agree with the American who said, "If I can do it, it ain't art!" But you would have to be very thick-skinned to remain unmoved by "Picasso's World of Children."
This important exhibition, at the National Museum of Western Art, shows the breadth and depth of Picasso's talent through over 140 paintings and sketches. More than that, it reveals something of the man behind the myth. Though his style changed greatly over a career spanning 80 years, he was always attracted to the mystery of childhood.
According to Shuji Takashina, director general of the museum, "The story of Picasso is the story of 20th-century art. He said that when he was young he could draw like Raphael; he had to unlearn that in order to draw like a child. As adults we lose the ability to see the wonder of ordinary things. Picasso never lost that curiosity."