Taken together, the collections of the Guggenheim and the Musé national d'art moderne reveal the close relationship between the Analytical Cubist styles of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. In the summer of 1911, the two artists worked side by side in Cé, France--so closely, in fact, that it is difficult to distinguish one artist's work from the other. Both Picasso's The Accordionist (summer 1911) and Braque's Still Life with Violin (1911) abandon Renaissance perspective, breaking the surfaces of objects into a multitude of planes to show many sides within the same view. The subsequent development of Synthetic Cubism, characterized by the addition of color, patterned surfaces, stenciling, and collage, can be seen in Picasso's Portrait of a Young Girl (1914) and Braque's Woman with Guitar (1913), as well as the work of Juan Gris.

By the mid-1920s, the paths of Picasso and Braque had diverged. Braque's The Bowl of Grapes (1926) is essentially a continuation of his prewar practice of Synthetic Cubism, while Picasso's Still Life with Classical Bust (1925), with its biomorphic forms, marks his turn to Surrealism.

Picasso engaged in significant exchanges with other artists as well. Julio González taught Picasso how to weld iron, and both artists created sculptures that related to Picasso's paintings of the late 1920s. A dialogue between Picasso and Henri Matisse later in their careers resulted in such works as Picasso's Woman with Yellow Hair (December 1931) and Matisse's The Dream (1935), both of which treat the subject of sleeping beauties.