Christian Zervos

Christian Zervos first met Picasso when he was a student in Paris. In 1926 Zervos founded the publishing house Cahiers d'Art and in 1932 he embarked on his extensive Catalogue raisonné of Picasso's paintings and works on paper. Zervos explained his aim in compiling the volumes: 'Il en sera question dans la suite des études que nous consacrerons à Picasso en vue de montrer le développement de son œuvre et le travail constant de l'artiste...'. Extending to thirty-four volumes, reproducing over 16,000 works, Zervos' work covers the artist's entire life and is the most comprehensive record of Picasso's work. The first edition of this Catalogue raisonné was published between 1932 and 1978.