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It showed in the work. But do the irresolutions of his old age really matter? Picasso shaped his century when it, and he, was younger, and all its possibilities were open to his ravening eye, in those three decades between 1907 and 1937. He was the most influential artist of his own time; for many lesser figures a catastrophic influence, and for those who could deal with him — from Braque, through Giacometti, to de Kooning and Arshile Gorky — an almost indescribably fruitful one.
Today such a career seems inconceivable. No one even shows signs of assuming the empty mantle. If ever a man created his own historical role and was not the pawn of circumstances, it was that Nietzschean monster from Málaga.
*The show runs until Sept. 16, and is open to the general public daily except Wednesday. Tickets ($4.50 for adults, $2.50 for students, 75¢ for senior citizens) must be purchased in advance either from MOMA or 600 Ticketron outlets in the U.S. and Canada.