Synopsis
Born October 25, 1881, Malaga, Spain, Pablo Picasso, became
one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century and
the creator (with Georges Braque) of Cubism. A Spanish expatriate
painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, Picasso
was considered radical in his work. After a long prolific career, he
died April 8, 1973 in Mougins, France.
The enormous body of Picasso's work remains,
The enormous body of Picasso's work remains,
Quotes
"If only we could pull out our brain and use only our eyes."
– Pablo Picasso
and the legend lives on—a tribute to the
vitality of the “disquieting” Spaniard with the “sombrepiercing” eyes
who superstitiously believed that work would keep him alive. For nearly
80 of his 91 years Picasso devoted himself to an artistic production
that contributed significantly to and paralleled the whole development
of modern art in the 20th century.
Profile
Artist. Born October 25, 1881 in Málaga, Spain. Picasso's gargantuan full name, which honors a variety of relatives and saints, is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso. Picasso's mother was Doña Maria Picasso y Lopez and his father was Don José Ruiz Blasco, a painter and art teacher. A serious and prematurely world-weary child, the young Pablo Picasso possessed a pair of piercing, watchful black eyes that seemed to mark him out for greatness. He remembered, "When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk you'll end up as the pope.' Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso."Although he was a relatively poor student, Picasso displayed a prodigious talent for drawing from a very young age. According to legend, his first words were "piz, piz," his childish attempt at lápiz, the Spanish word for pencil. Picasso's father began teaching him to draw and paint from early childhood, and by the time he was 13 years old his paintings were already better executed than his father's. He lost all desire to do any schoolwork and instead spent the school days doodling in his notebook. Picasso recalled, "for being a bad student, they would send me to the 'cells'& I loved it when they sent me there, because I could take a pad of paper and draw nonstop."
In 1895, when Picasso was fourteen years old, his family moved to Barcelona and he immediately applied to the city's prestigious School of Fine Arts. Although the school typically only accepted students several years his senior, Picasso's entrance exam was so extraordinary that the school made an exception and admitted him immediately. Nevertheless, Picasso chafed at the strict rules and formalities and began skipping class to roam the streets of Barcelona, sketching the city scenes he observed.
In 1897, a 16-year-old Picasso moved to Madrid to attend the Royal Academy of San Fernando. However, he again grew frustrated at the school's singular focus on classical subjects and techniques. He wrote to a friend, "They just go and on& about the same old stuff: Velazquez for painting, Michelangelo for sculpture." Again he started skipping class to wander the city and paint what he observed: gypsies, beggars, prostitutes.
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