Picasso Essay, Research Paper

The Biography of Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso was born on October 25, 1881 in Maloga, Spain, to Jose Ruiz Blasco, and Maria Picasso. Picasso was a miracle from the start. There were complications with birth and everyone was sure that he was not going to live. Picasso became one of the most well known artists of all time. He is best known as the inventor of the revolutionary art style, principally Cubism, and for his contributions as a sculptor, painter, and designer.

Picasso?s father, Jose Ruiz Blasco, was a painter as well and a former professor at the School of Arts and Crafts in Malaga. Picasso was quick to express his desire for art. At the age of four, he was drawing detailed pictures with astounding results. At the age of thirteen, Picasso was enrolled at an art school where his father taught, and suddenly his academic habits changed. He began to apply himself to his work, showing interest in what he was doing, and his grades showed a vast improvement.

In 1896, Picasso?s family moved to Barcelona where he excelled at the School of Fine Arts. He was beyond everyone else in school and it was not much of a challenge. Picasso continued to paint, but he was not satisfied. He realized that the only way he could fulfill his dreams of revolutionizing painting was to attend Madrid?s Royal Academy of San Fernando, which was well known for having the most demanding artistic training in the country. In fall of 1897, he entered the academy. Picasso also excelled in that school, leaving him with plenty of time on his hands. The Royal Academy of San Fernando did not work well for Picasso. He left the school and his father bought him a train ticket to Paris.

Picasso traveled between Barcelona and Paris from 1900 to 1904, and afterward he lived almost exclusively in Paris, where he was a prominent figure among his contemporaries. He then met writer and art collector Gertrude Stein, and her brother, Leo, who were great fans of his style. They helped support him by purchasing many of his early works.

A good friend of Picasso committed suicide, which made him extremely depressed. This was believed to start the beginning of Picasso?s Blue Period. It is also believed that it is named the Blue Period because he had a dominant use of blue in his paintings. Picasso moved back to Spain and his blue period became more intense. From this period, his most outstanding works were ?The Soup? (1902), ?Crouching Woman,? and ?Blind Man?s Meal (1903). Shortly after, he moved back to Paris to stay.

The Blue Period was finally coming to an end and Picasso was beginning to add slight color in his work. This was called his Pink Period. It is believed that this shift had something to do with Picasso meeting a woman named Fernanda Olivier. The Pink Period were the years from 1904-1906. Picasso?s famous paintings from this period were ?Boy Leading a Horse? (1905), ?Woman with Loaves? (1906), and ?Portrait of Gertrude Stein? (1906).

Picasso?s first cubist painting, ?Les Desmoiselles d?Avignon? was created in 1907 and represents Picasso?s seminal artistic achievement: the foundation of the Cubist movement. The painting had dimensions, the human form was reassembled into pieces, and it set the stage for abstract art. During his abstract moment, Picasso met a French artist named Georges Braque, and they instantly had a connection. They continued to develop the Cubist techniques that immediately began to influence a generation of prominent painters, sculptors and architects.

In 1913, Picasso?s father became ill and died within a short period of time. This incident made it extremely difficult for Picasso to work. He decided to become involved with helping a ballet performance. Picasso was in charge of designing the costumes and the settings for the stage. While working, he met one of the ballerina?s named Olga Kokhlora and became interested in her.

Picasso and Olga were married in 1918 in Paris, and had a son in 1921. Shortly after the marriage, Picasso became bored with Olga, and had an affair with an eighteen year old named Marie Therese Walter. Marie became pregnant and Olga moved out with their son. Divorce frightened Picasso because he would lose half his profit and some of his paintings, so they remained separated.

Picasso met a painter named Francoise Gilot who was interested in his work. She was forty years younger than him, but they ended up moving in together. They had a son in 1947, and moved to France in 1948. In 1949, Picasso and Francoise had another baby. This one was a girl, which pleased Picasso.

In 1950, Picasso won the Lenon Peace Prize. In 1952, he planned to decorate a fourteenth century chapel in Vallauris. Picasso was a very busy man, and had little time for anything else but his work. The relationship between him and Francoise was empty. She moved back to Paris with their children. In 1961, at the age of eighty, Picasso married Jacqueline Roque.

Picasso?s work continued to be displayed and admired in the most elite galleries around the world. In 1965, at the age of eighty-three, his busy life was finally catching up with him, and his health was starting to fail. He had to have gallbladder and prostate surgery, and in 1972, Picasso was admitted into a hospital due to severe pulmonary congestion. April 8, 1973, Picasso took his final breath. He could no longer fight for his life. He left many great achievements with the world, which included: 1,885 paintings; 1,228 sculptures; 2,280 ceramics; 18,095 engravings; 6,112 lithographs; and around 12,000 drawings.

Pablo Picasso was a genius when it came to art. He was a creator of forms, languages, myths, and beauty. He was committed to life, both the positive and negative things about it. His expressions were shown through his work and shown to the world. His art flourished in the past and has not stopped yet.