Pablo Picasso and art critic John Berger felt his talents as an artist were "wasted" by the communists. According to Jean Cocteau's diaries, Picasso once said to him in reference to the communists: "I have joined a family, and like all families, it's full of shit". Picasso was exceptionally prolific throughout his long lifetime. The total number of artworks he produced has been estimated at 50,000, comprising 1,885 paintings; 1,228 sculptures; 2,880 ceramics, roughly 12,000 drawings, many thousands of prints, and numerous tapestries and rugs. The medium in which Picasso made his most important contribution was painting. In his paintings, Picasso used
Picasso and the Ballets Russes drawn figure of Picasso is the result of endless well-drawn figures he erases, corrects, covers over, and which serves him as a foundation. In opposition to all schools he seems to end his work with a sketch." Additionally, Guillaume Apollinaire, who wrote the program notes for "Parade", described Picasso's designs as "a kind of surrealism" three years before Surrealism developed as an art movement in Paris. In 1924, Picasso designed the sets and costumes for Massine's "Mercure", which was produced not by Diaghilev, but by Comte Étienne de Beaumont with music by Satie. Picasso did not design for the theater