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Pablo Picasso

Art genre: Modernism, Cubism.
Art media: Painting, printmaking, lithographs, sculpture.

Life: Born in Malaga in 1881, Picasso was the son of an art teacher who became Professor at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. A talented child, Picasso studied at the Academy in Barcelona and the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. In 1900 he visited Paris where he settled in 1904. He became friendly with artists and writers such as Georges Braque, Apollinaire and Gertrude Stein. Picasso remained in Paris when the First World War broke out in 1914, but moved to the suburbs after his mistress Marcelle Humbert, died in 1915. He collaborated with the ballet master Diaghilev and fell in love with the Russian dancer Olga Kokhlova whom he married in 1918. Their son, Paolo, was born in 1921. He lived a fashionable existence back in Paris but eventually he grew tired of this lifestyle. He found a new mistress, seventeen-year-old Marie-Thérèse Walter, who inspired many of his paintings and sculptures. In 1935 he officially separated from Olga and the following year Marie-Thérèse gave birth to their daughter, Maia. Picasso soon found another mistress, however, and the Yugoslav photographer Dora Maar replaced Marie-Thérèse. In the 1930s Picasso began to visit Spain more frequently and during the Spanish Civil War he supported the Republicans. The Republican Government made him an honorary director of the Prada Museum and in return Picasso created one of his most famous paintings, Guernica. He remained in Paris throughout the Second World War. After the war ended, Picasso became a Communist and his drawing of a dove became a famous Communist Party emblem. Dora Maar was succeeded by Françoise Gilot with whom he lived in the South of France until 1955. He separated from Françoise in 1955 and six years later married his new mistress, Jacqueline Roque. Picasso continued to work until his death in 1973.

Work:Picasso's work falls into distinct periods. From 1901-1904 he produced a series of melancholy paintings featuring harlequins, acrobats, prostitutes and beggars that formed his Blue Period. This was succeeded by the Rose Period (1905-6) which were brighter and more cheerful. He then turned to a more primitive style, influenced by the work of the artists Cezanne and black African art, and produced one of his most famous paintings: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. With Georges Braque, he founded a movement known as Analytic Cubism (1909-1912), where he used sombre colours and took objects apart to analyse their shape and form. He also experimented with collage and cut paper, something which had never been doine before in fine art. After a difficult period in his private life, he moved into a Neo-Classical phase which contrasted sharply with his avant-garde work. As his marriage to Olga Kokhlova failed, his work became increasingly angry and savage. In 1937 he exhibited Guernica in Paris. This represenatation of the German bombing of the Spanish town of Guernica in Sapin was seen as a powerful anti-war statement. After the end of the Second World War, he continued to paint political themes. In the 1950s he made a series of works based on the paintings of the great masters such as Velasquez. His last major exhibition was in Avignon in 1970, where the brutality of his work shocked many observers. He was moving towards the style of Neo-Expressionism which dominated the art scene in the early 1980s. Picasso is also renowned for his sculture and prints.

Find out more:
www.picasso.fr/anglais
www.en.wikipedia.org

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