Claim: Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse were considered leaders of modern art by critics.

Pablo Picasso -LRB- -LSB- pɪˈkɑːsoʊ , _ - ˈkæsoʊ -RSB- -LSB- ˈpaβlo piˈkaso -RSB- ; 25 October 1881 -- 8 April 1973 -RRB- was a Spanish painter , sculptor , printmaker , ceramicist , stage designer , poet and playwright who spent most of his adult life in France . Regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century , he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement , the invention of constructed sculpture , the co-invention of collage , and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore . Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon -LRB- 1907 -RRB- , and Guernica -LRB- 1937 -RRB- , a dramatic portrayal of the bombing of Guernica by the German and Italian airforces .   Picasso demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent in his early years , painting in a naturalistic manner through his childhood and adolescence . During the first decade of the 20th century , his style changed as he experimented with different theories , techniques , and ideas . After 1906 , the Fauvist work of the slightly older artist Henri Matisse motivated Picasso to explore more radical styles , beginning a fruitful rivalry between the two artists , who subsequently were often paired by critics as the leaders of modern art .   Picasso 's work is often categorized into periods . While the names of many of his later periods are debated , the most commonly accepted periods in his work are the Blue Period -LRB- 1901 -- 1904 -RRB- , the Rose Period -LRB- 1904 -- 1906 -RRB- , the African-influenced Period -LRB- 1907 -- 1909 -RRB- , Analytic Cubism -LRB- 1909 -- 1912 -RRB- , and Synthetic Cubism -LRB- 1912 -- 1919 -RRB- , also referred to as the Crystal period . Much of Picasso 's work of the late 1910s and early 1920s is in a neoclassical style , and his work in the mid-1920s often has characteristics of Surrealism . His later work often combines elements of his earlier styles .   Exceptionally prolific throughout the course of his long life , Picasso achieved universal renown and immense fortune for his revolutionary artistic accomplishments , and became one of the best-known figures in 20th-century art .