Men of Style: Pablo Picasso

Where have the stylish men gone? The days of men like Paul Newman, Pablo Picasso, and Serge Gainsbourg have been replaced by modern day scuzzies like Ben Affleck and Ryan Seacrest. I love American Idol just as much as the next stylish guy (read: not at all), but Seacrest just can't pull off the same style that Mr. Newman or Mr. Steve McQueen had. And if you start comparing our modern men to the likes of Carry Grant and such? Well, let's just say I just got a little bit of vomit in my mouth.

So as I sit here sipping my Dewar's (neat, of course — water or ice is for sissies), I got thinking about the Men of Style. Check out this guy above. Smoking a cigarette with style, looking pensive and in black & white — style to the max! Not to mention he screwed anything with a heartbeat and drew with boxes and cubes.

Yes, this is Pablo Picasso, the Spanish Cubist artist that some say was the greatest artist of the 20th Century (I say David Hockney, Willem De Kooning or Roy Lichtenstein could vie for that title, but I digress). What made him so stylish? As he grew older, he went from the cafés of Barcelona to the cafés of Paris — and back — and started to get his sense of place and style while in the midst of intellectuals such as Guillaume Apollinaire and Max Jacob while living in these affluent European cities. His comments to the opposite gender (women being "goddesses or doormats") made him distasteful to a certain group of women, but there was no doubt he was revered and respected for his art, while his charm itself became the subject of lore.

Besides, anyone who ticked off the Nazis (in this case, for making "degenerate art") is a Man of Style by default.

Toss back: Absinthe

Buy:
Thomas Pink Classic Collar Double Cuff ($150)
Gap Surplus Khaki ($44.50)

Photo: © Herbert List/Magnum Photos/Contrasto

Want to be as cool as Stile (or Pablo Picasso)? Ask him how.