Picasso was an artistic prodigy from an early age, and was talented at painting in the styles of the day like realism etc.

The reason why he is influential and not forgotten is that he took painting in an entirely new direction and was able to convey emotion and philosophical ideas (like in Guernica, for example) in a completely different way than what was typical at the time. In a lot of his work he strips things down and distorts them on purpose to show multiple perspectives, which isn't something that realism usually tries to do.

put philosophical ideas in to paintings is an awesome idea! I'll look more of him. Thanks!