BARCELONA.- The exhibition focuses on Picasso’s artistic development from his arrival in Paris in 1900, where he discovered a thriving international art community, until 1907, when he had established himself as the leading figure on the avant-garde art scene in Paris. His first direct exposure to the work of painters such as Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Steinlen and Forain was a revelation to the young artist. His response was immediate, and was reflected in the discovery of new painting and drawing techniques and his embrace of a new subject matter, centred on his own experiences of modern life and modern art. For instance, the suicide in Montmartre of his Barcelona friend Carles Casagemas prompted works that deliberately evoked the palette and brushstrokes of Van Gogh. One of the most important aspects of this exhibition is the way it brings out these habitual features of Picasso’s art. He was never an imitator — no Picasso can be confused with