(…) At the risk of sounding paradoxical, one might describe Picasso’s early years as both formative and “deformative”. (…) As a child, Picasso grew up with a father who was an art teacher and painter. What significance did this fact have, and what were its implications? (…) The essential role played by his father was to help Picasso, at an early age, to become aware of his abilities and of what he was — a natural-born draughtsman and painter. (…) Picasso’s work as a whole can be considered as a movement backwards to recover his childhood, its spontaneity and candour,
