Picasso created the most important oeuvre in 20th-century art not only in his capacity as a painter and sculptor, but also and above all as a draughtsman and printmaker. The Kupferstichkabinett's collection of 180 works by this giant of modernism is one of the oldest Picasso collections held by a public museum. Featuring 120 prints and drawings selected from the Kupferstichkabinett's own holdings and supplemented by an additional 40 loans - including paintings, coloured works on paper, posters, and ceramics - this retrospective survey cuts across seven decades in an extraordinary body of work. It ranges in style from Picasso's early ascetic figuration, through nuances of Cubism, Neoclassicism, and Surrealism, to the vibrant expressivity of the late period, all the while depicting his transformative plurality of style.

The exhibition is divided into ten thematic chapters that adhere to Picasso's motto that 'the drama of the man' was the most crucial motivation behind his art. Starting with the early work peopled by jesters and acrobats and interspersed with portraits of his contemporaries, the exhibition moves on to the core themes of his homages to women - lovers and partners - and the relationship between artist and model. Also highlighted are Picasso's lifelong fascination with bullfighting as an allegory of the battle of the sexes and his appropriation of the myth of the Minotaur of Crete, the half-bull, half-man, which he depicted as his alter ego. Other thematic sections illustrate the artist's politically motivated works (for example prints produced against the Franco regime, and the dove of peace) and his reinterpretation of works of literature and old masters like Rembrandt, Cranach, and Goya.

The rich illustrated catalog is published by gestalten and available in the exhibition or online.