The Picasso exhibit now on display at the Seattle Art Museum stands apart from any other collection of the artist's work because it represents his personal selections, which he kept for himself with the intent of shaping his own artistic legacy.

People, lots of people, are all lined up to see Picasso. Picasso the great, the Michelangelo of the 20th century, the raging bull of modern art in Seattle.

At the Seattle Art Museum, we are presented with a rare opportunity to see a comprehensive exhibit of the modern master, artist Pablo Picasso.

These are Picasso’s Picassos, his private collection, the ones he didn’t wish to sell or show. In today’s art market, the value of this artwork is nearly incalculable. And you need to take yourself, family or friends to see this show, because, unless you travel to Paris, you won’t get another chance. Picasso’s enormous collection was “given,” in lieu of inheritance taxes, to the French government, who quickly outfitted a large, handsome but derelict hotel in Paris with the enormous collection. Right now, the museum is closed for two years of renovation. Vive l’opportunite!

With all the intrigue of a modern espionage novel, SAM director Derrick Cartwright and vice-director Maryann Jordan somehow finagled Paris into loaning its collection to Seattle through Jan. 17.

Picasso burst on the Paris scene much the way Seattle snared the imagination of Anne Baldassari, chief curator of Musee National Picasso. To say that Picasso was a precocious talent at age 19 is an understatement. He could already paint and draw like a master.

And paint he did. The collection is an undeniable display of all the glamour, brilliance and command of the many media that Picasso thrust upon an evolving 20th century art world, a world already reeling from the impact of Impressionism and Post Impressionism and the first extraordinary artworks by modern painters from Monet to Van Gogh.

Picasso fathered the next giant steps that led to the modern-day transformation from painting as representation, to, well … be my guest in defining this potpourri of expression. Most of these paintings stun a vibrant imagination. Two Women Running on the Beach, The Village Dance, Cat Catching a Bird, sketches from Guernica, playful and provocative sculpture all this work is displayed with deep passion, eroticism, and of course, all the creativity of an artist who might be defined as the raging bull of modern art.

At the beginning of the exhibit, one is confronted by a life-size photograph, a self-portrait of the artist as a young man, around age 24, standing resolutely with two deep-set black eyes blazing, almost challenging, muscles hard and taut, and with a pose that suggests an ego beyond Picasso’s cool and calculating confidence, of which he is generally accused of exhibiting by the boatload. He seems to suggest in a prescient sort way that, yes, he is going to become an artist of unsurpassed depth and imagination. His black and white drawings suggest a master on terms with Rembrandt or Picasso’s fellow Spaniard, Goya. Certainly, Picasso does not surpass either. But to be held on a par with such genius and talent speaks volumes, and Picasso did speak volumes. This quotation is a favorite: “God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style. He just goes on creating other things.”

And creating “other things” is exactly what Picasso was about. Until his death in 1973, he told rich and wonderful stories, mostly on canvas and on paper. He also loved clay and found objects. Through his rich oeuvre, he told evocative stories, sensuous stories. As with most artists, the public seems to allow certain disclaimers on fame and fortune. What he did was paint and draw his partners in extraordinary poses and dimensions, leaving them with at least this: In posterity they will remain famous or infamous. We voyeurs of his art and fame will always want to know more.

We hold Picasso’s subjects in our imagination in much of the same way that we covet the surreal characters in a good novel. Here is an example of portrait fascination: The painting of Dora Maar is cubist in nature. As in his hard-drawn lines and planes, Picasso evokes a many-faceted personality. There is kindness in her face, but also pain and resignation, each represented by bold primary colors. But something else greets the observer. One eye glares sideways in kind of a “deja vu” moment. The second eye focuses on the rapt audience, us. Just as yellow evokes strong audience reaction in Maar’s painted face, red fingernails suggest more: knives, sharp knives. Her chair is flatly painted, and the x’s of the wooden arms suggest a kind of prohibition on Maar’s (and Picasso’s) private thoughts. Having fallen for Picasso early in the new century, she would suffer the indignities of his many other lovers.

His bigger than life nature, like his artwork, must have remained irresistible, just as this show is irresistible. In the sketches and studies of Guernica (the original remains in Madrid), rage and indignity confront us with all the power of a full-force Blitzkrieg. In a strange way, it doesn’t matter if you like abstract painting or not. Picasso is the giant of expressionism and the creator of many emerging art styles. He was always ahead of the pack, bursting from the starting gate like Secretariat or Sea Biscuit. It can hardly be denied. You may dismiss his style, but must not reject the talent.