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07 Childhood

Picasso places childhood at the heart of his work—as subject, symbol, creative stance, and driving force in search of forms. These loving images of his children, which fall within the traditional genre of family portraiture, also possess a universal resonance.
Yet Picasso’s connection to childhood goes beyond familial bonds: for him, children also embodied the energy of spontaneous creation, the freshness of a new gaze, and a clear defiance of academicism. These works open up a broader perspective, revealing the artist’s interest in childhood as a means of decentring the gaze. Picasso worked on children’s drawings to see art through their eyes and to recapture a sense of freshness—a return to art’s own childhood.