The first 100 years of modern art witnessed the popularization of photography, the decline of traditional patronage, and an increasing emphasis on abstraction in painting, all of which threatened the survival of portraiture as a genre. It continued to flourish because modern painters - Picasso foremost amongst them - sought and found meaningful new ways to portray the human face. This book focuses on this part of the artist's oevre, reproducing works in oil, gouache, pastel, charcoal and other media to illustrate the solutions Picasso invented to solve the problem of the modernist portrait. Published to accompany an exhibition to be shown at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1996, the book contains eight essays examining different periods and aspects of Picasso's career. The personal relationships between Picasso and his subjects are clarified. Contributions come from Anne Baldassari, Pierre Daix, Michael Fitzgerald, Brigitte Leal, Marilyn McCully, Robert Rosenblum, William Rubin, Helene Seckel and Kirk Varnedoe.