Pablo Picasso: Life and Works

Mar 24, 2025

Full Name: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispín Crispiniano María Remedios de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz Picasso.
Birth: October 25, 1881, in Málaga, Spain.
Death: April 8, 1973, in Mougins, France.
Picasso showed exceptional artistic talent from an early age, heavily influenced by his father, José Ruiz Blasco, who was an art teacher and painter.

Education and Early Career

Attended the School of Fine Arts in La Coruña and later the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid.
Left formal education early, moving to Barcelona and becoming part of the city's vibrant art scene.
His first major exhibition was held at the Els Quatre Gats café in Barcelona in 1900.

Artistic Periods and Major Works

Blue Period (1901–1904):
- Characterized by melancholic tones of blue and green, often depicting poverty, despair, and isolation.
- Major Works:
  - The Old Guitarist (1903)
  - La Vie (1903)
Rose Period (1904–1906):
- Shifted to warmer tones like pink and orange, portraying circus performers and more cheerful subjects.
- Major Works:
  - Family of Saltimbanques (1905)
  - Boy with a Pipe (1905)
African Art and Proto-Cubism (1907–1909):
- Influenced by African masks and Iberian sculpture, leading to the development of Cubism.
- Major Work:
  - Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907)
Cubism (1909–1919):
- Co-founded with Georges Braque, this movement fragmented objects into geometric shapes and abstract forms.
- Major Works:
  - Ma Jolie (1911–12)
  - Violin and Candlestick (1910)
Neoclassicism and Surrealism (1920s):
- Returned to classical themes and experimented with surrealist ideas.
- Major Works:
  - Three Musicians (1921)
  - The Dream (1932)
Guernica (1937):
- A monumental anti-war painting created in response to the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.
- Depicts the horrors of war and suffering of civilians.
- Considered one of his greatest works.
Later Years (1940s–1973):
- Continued to innovate with ceramics, sculpture, and printmaking.
- Explored themes of love, mythology, and mortality.
- Notable Works:
  - The Women of Algiers series (1954–55)
  - Self-Portrait Facing Death (1972)

Legacy

Picasso is one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, with over 20,000 works spanning painting, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics.
Co-founder of the Cubist movement, pioneer of collage, and a leader in modern art.
Museums dedicated to his work include the Picasso Museum in Barcelona and the Musée Picasso in Paris.