Season Two of Nat Geo’s Genius to Spotlight Pablo Picasso

National Geographic has revealed that the second season of its scripted anthology series Genius will chronicle the life and work of celebrated artist Pablo Picasso.

The new season, from Fox 21 Television Studios, is scheduled to premiere in 2018 on National Geographic channels in 171 countries and in 45 languages. It will again be executive produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, Madison Wells Media’s OddLot Entertainment and EUE/Sokolow. Showrunner, executive producer and writer Ken Biller will continue his role overseeing the new season.

The first season of Genius, which wrapped on Tuesday night, centered on Albert Einstein. Season one was watched by more than 45 million people around the world, and is National Geographic’s best performing new series launch ever.

“We are thrilled with the enthusiastic response audiences and critics have had for Genius over the last nine weeks, and are excited to be delving back into the concept with season two,” said CEO of National Geographic Global Networks, Courteney Monroe. “More so than any of his contemporaries, Picasso’s work dramatically expressed the modern age and defined new cultural norms. We are excited to explore his life and his genius with the incredibly talented team behind the series.”

“The remarkable story of artistic visionary Pablo Picasso is the perfect subject for season two of Genius,” said Howard. “Picasso was a trailblazer who left a profound artistic and cultural impact on the world and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership with National Geographic and Fox 21 Television Studios in telling the untold story behind the brilliant individual.”

“Season one has been a fantastic experience for all of us, and we owe a big debt to Courteney, Carolyn and the Nat Geo team for being such great partners,” commented Bert Salke, president of Fox 21 Television Studios. “Picasso is arguably one of the most influential artists of the last century with a life story almost too fantastic to be reality. It’s the perfect next chapter for Ron, Brian, Ken and this franchise.”