Pablo Picasso (1881-1973): Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon), 1907. Although it is probably the single most analyzed picture of the century, ironically, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon was not exhibited in public until 1916. Picasso's friends felt that the highly distorted brothel scene would be too controversial. - The work of Paul Cézanne, and also African masks, were crucial in shaping it, and for many years it was regarded as the first Cubist painting. Critics have since concluded that it is a transitional work, but this has done nothing to dampen its enormous power or influence. Willem de Kooning's Woman series (1951-53), for example, was directly informed by this work…