Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga 25th October 1881 as the first son of José Ruiz Blasco en María Picasso López. His father José was an artist, drawing teacher and curator. Strangely enough Pablo used his mother's name. When he was 9 years old in 1890 he painted his first painting of a bullfighter titled Picador. 

Picador (1890)

In 1895 his sister Conchita died of diphtheria. Then he went to the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid but stopped soon after enrollment. He was inspired by El Greco and Fransico Goya. He painted his sister Lola at the age of 14 in "The First Communion" (1896). The style at this time was Realism. In 1897 his realism displayed also symbolism. Which became clear in landscape paintings. In 1900 he moved to Paris and learned to speak french by his Parisian friend, journalist and poet Max Jacob. In 1901 he returned to Madrid and for the first time he signed his paintings as Picasso. Before that he signed as Pablo Ruiz Picasso and then as Pablo R. Picasso. 

La Vie (1903)

The Old Guitarist (1903)

Picasso's Blue Period (1901–1904) characterized by sombre paintings rendered in shades of blue and blue-green. He lived both in Barcelona and Paris during these years. For example he painted "La Vie" (1903), "The Old Guitarist" (1903) and "The Frugal Repast"(1904).

Harlequin With Glass (1905)

The Family of Saltimbanques (1905)

The Rose Period (1904–1906) is characterized by a lighter tone and style utilizing orange and pink colours and featuring many circus people, acrobats and harlequins known in France as saltimbanques. By 1905 Picasso became a favourite of American art collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein. Picasso painted a portrait of Gertrude Stein exhibiting his paintings at her home. There he met Henri Matisse with whom he became friends.

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907)

Nude with raised arms (1907)

Then he start doing African art and primitivism from 1907–1909. It started with his painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (1907). Other works from this period include "Nude with Raised Arms" (1907) and "Three Women" (1908). In 1911 Picasso was arrested and questioned about the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre.

Still Life with Chair Caning (1912)

Three Women at the Spring (1921)

Three Musicians (1921)

His style finally became cubism and for example he created "Still Life with Chair Caning" (1912). At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 Picasso was living in Avignon where he could continue to paint without being interrupted. In the summer of 1921 Picasso, Khokhlova and Paulo stayed at a villa in the village of Fontainebleau, France. There he painted "Three Women at the Spring" (1921) and "Three Musicians" (1921).

Studio with Plaster Head (1925)

Girl Before Mirros (1927)

Then his style transformed into Neoclassicism and surrealism (1919–1929). In 1919 he moved to Italy. Picasso's paintings and drawings from this period frequently recall the work of Raphael and Ingres. In 1925 the Surrealist writer and poet André Breton declared Picasso as "one of ours" in his article Le Surréalisme et la peinture, published in Révolution surréaliste.

Guernica (1937)

Minotaur Pulling A Cart (1936)

During the 1930s, the minotaur replaced the harlequin as a common motif in his work. The minotaur appeared in his work "Guernica". It displayed German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Guernica was exhibited in July 1937 at the Spanish Pavilion at the Paris International Exposition, and then became the centrepiece of an exhibition of 118 works by Picasso, Matisse, Braque and Henri Laurens that toured Scandinavia and England. Then it moved to the United States to raise funds and support for Spanish refugees. Until 1981 it was entrusted to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, as it was Picasso's expressed desire that the painting should not be delivered to Spain until liberty and democracy had been established in the country.

The Charnel House (1945)

Still Life With Guitar (1942)

During World War II, Picasso remained in Paris while the Germans occupied the city. He did not exhibit his work at that time because the Nazis didn't like his art. When his house was searched by the Gestapo and they found a picture of Guernica then he was asked "Did you do that?". And Picasso answered "No, You did." In his studio he continued to create paintings like "Still Life With Guitar" (1942) and "The Charnel House" (1945).

Picasso Ceramics

By 1949 when World War II was over he started to create sculptures. In the 1950's he did reinterpretations of the art of the great masters. He also moved to painting ceramics. Picasso died on 8 April 1973 in Mougins, France, from a heart attack brought on by pulmonary edema.