Boone, Daniele. Picasso. Studio
Editions, London, 1993. A good picture-book with a short biographical
sketch.
Gombrich, E.H. The Story of Art.
Phaidon, London, 1995. Excellent for general background; the best
basic art-history book. To understand how Cubism disrupted traditional European
painting, it's a good idea to take a look at traditional European
painting and this book lays it all out. The chapter on "Experimental
Art: The first half of the twentieth century" contains a good,
terse explanation of Picasso's project.
Hilton, Timothy. Picasso.
Thames and Hudson, London, 1975.
Hughes, Robert. The Shock of the New.
Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1996. An excellent introduction to modern
art, with good commentary on Picasso. Offers an excellent understanding
of the artistic currents of early twentieth- century Paris–Surrealism, primitivism,
Symbolism, Fauvism. Hughes has a very entertaining style.
Jaffé, Hans L.S. Pablo Picasso.
Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1963. A very good picture-book.
Schiff, Gert, ed. Picasso in Perspective.
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1976. A selection
of critical essays on Picasso, from his first press notices onward.
Stein, Gertrude. Picasso.
Dover, New York, 1984. A memoir of Stein's close relationship
with Picasso.