My exploration of Picasso’s journey to genius—from prodigy to icon—took me from his childhood home in Malaga, Spain to the Musée Picasso in Paris. I visited Plaza de la Merced, where a young Picasso etched his first drawings in the dust; watched as his painting, “Femme Accroupie (Jacqueline)” sold for $32.5 million at a Christie’s auction in New York City; and had the privilege of interviewing Picasso’s son and several of his grandchildren. Excerpt: “How does a person evolve from newborn to mastermind? How can a single soul redefine the way we see? Picasso the man was messy. He loved life at the circus and death at the bullfights. He could be both boisterous and silent, amorous and domineering. But from his beginning as a prodigy to his final years painting musketeers and matadors, Picasso seemed destined for artistic greatness, his journey to genius fixed as firmly as paint on canvas. All the elements were there: a family that cultivated his creative passion, intellectual curiosity and grit, clusters of peers who inspired him, and the good fortune to be born at a time when new ideas in science, literature, and music energized his work and the advent of mass media catapulted him to fame.” Hats off to photographers Paolo Woods and Gabriele Galimberti for their brilliant images. Read the story here.