Pablo Picasso was born in 1881 in Malaga, Spain, and chronicled the highs and lows of the 20th century with a paintbrush. His first words were ”piz piz,” a shortening of lapiz, the Spanish world for pencil. He lived through both World Wars, the Spanish Civil War, the Cold War, and many affairs of the heart, producing a staggering 50,000 works. To mark the 50th anniversary of his death in 1973, in Mougins, the Albertina presents works from its collection. Highlights include Picasso’s early Blue Period portrait The Sleepy Drinker, the analytical Cubist work Étagère, and his 1929 Surrealist masterpiece Femme, sculpture et vase de fleurs. —E.C.