Pablo Picasso, La Grande Corrida, avec Femme Torero (detail), 1934, etching on paper, 19.56 x 27.25 in.

To a casual viewer, the central figure in one of Pablo Picasso’s creations might reveal itself as a bull, or perhaps a minotaur. To the renowned artist, there was no doubt about the true identity of these imposing beasts: Pablo Picasso.

“Picasso is in virtually every piece he does; in some form or another, he always sneaks himself in,” says Louis Newman, director of modernism at LewAllen Galleries. Newman and exhibition co-curator Justin Ferate shared insights with Pasatiempo on a recent Monday in LewAllen’s basement about the latest exhibition, Celebrating Picasso’s Legacy: Important Works on Paper, which runs through May 6.

The exhibition, which features works Picasso transmitted to paper, coincides with the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death on April 8, 1973.