Life and Art of Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso has made a change in history with his meaningful paintings. He was born on October 25, 1881, and learned about art at an early age. He became a painter, sculptor, printmaker, stage designer, ceramicist, playwright and poet, and spent a lot of his adult life in France. He has had many periods in his art, some being very beautiful to people and others being extremely controversial. In his late years his art had a drastic change, he allowed himself freedom with art, even his family was a part of his artwork. Picasso’s life was a long and creative life that has influenced the world.

Pablo was born on October 25, 1881. He was born in a town called Malaga in Andalusia, Spain. His parents are Maria Picasso y Lopez and Jose Ruiz Biasco. They decided to name him Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Nepomuceno Maria de Los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruiz y Picasso. His birth was quite interesting because when he was born the midwife thought that he died so his uncle blew cigar smoke in his face to revive him. He was the oldest child, with two younger sisters, Lola and Concepción. His father was an artist, who helped him begin learning art at an early age.

Picasso begun learning about art at age 7 by his dad. Picasso initially learned drawing and oil painting techniques from his father. He would help his dad complete any artwork that he had. At the age of 9, he made his first-ever painting called Le Picador. At the age of 13, his father had given up painting because he felt that his son had surpassed him. Influences from different artists such as Paul Cézanne and Henri Rousseau led Picasso to where he wanted to go with his art. At an early age, his art began to progress rapidly, which allowed him to get accepted into schools that taught art.

Pablo Picasso’s school life seemed very quick but still taught him a lot about art. At the age of 13, he was accepted to the school of fine arts, where his father taught. Most students completed their entrance exams in a month, he completed his in just one week. He later quit the art school so he can try with different modern art styles. When he was 16 he dropped out of Madrid's Royal Academy of San Fernando because he didn’t like formal education. It was Spain's top art academy at the time. Picasso attended school to roam the art exhibits, studying works by El Greco, Francisco Goya, Diego Veláquez and Zurbáran. During this time of Picasso's life, he painted portraits, one of his sister Lola's First Communion. Since he decided at an early age that he wanted to pursue art, he learned things at a very young age, he had most of his adult life to travel and continue learning.

He lived the majority of his adult life in France. Pablo was living with his friend Max but they were living in poverty. Since money was very low they would have to burn some of his artwork to stay warm. In 1901 he relocated to Madrid. In Madrid, he partnered with his friend Francisco Asis Soler in a magazine called 'Young Art,' illustrating articles and creating cartoons sympathetic to the poor. Traveling to certain places gave him inspiration which meant that there was a lot of art coming out of that. Places around the world such as Spain, Switzerland, France, and Germany carry some of his famous artworks. His art continued to change throughout the years which made him become more and more noticed.

Picasso’s art style changed multiple times. The Blue period is what made him known it was focused on monochromatic painting in different shades of blue and it lasted from 1901-1904. In 1904-1906 he participated in the Rose period, which consisted of orange and pink colors. By 1910-12 he began cubism and made about 19 or more paintings. In the 1920’s Pablo Picasso had many arts inspired by surrealist imagery, but would add his own details. One of his artworks from that time was called The Three Dancers, which contained many re-assembling of the human body and unique patterns. He also used unique mythological images in that time period. After World War One he decided to revert to traditional art styles. Although most of his paintings were considered beautiful and creative he also has some controversial pieces.

One of his most controversial artworks was inspired by African art, but he added his style in it as well. The art piece contained nude women, but very far from the classical female nudes, the five women demonstrated Picasso’s hard-angled and semi-abstract style. The women in the painting look at the viewer in a confrontational manner. The distortion of their faces and bodies look aggressive, way different from the soft, feminine nude of earlier centuries. Also, two of the women have faces that resemble African tribal masks. The painting’s styles and its shocking appearance caused controversy among the public and the art community itself. It was looked at as “immoral” in large part due to the “savage” appearance of the women. Although many people did not like the painting for many reasons it is still a huge part of history.

Pablo Picasso’s adult life had a lot to do with his art there were many more things to it. Not only was he a great painter, but also a sculptor, printmaker, ceramics artist, etching artist, and writer. Picasso lived through two World Wars, had four children, appeared in many films and wrote lots of poetry. Most of the things that happened in his early adult life influenced him to create some of his famous artworks. Although his love life was not the greatest due to his continual infidelities and abuse he found a wife that was with him for his final 17 years. His life seemed like it revolves around art, but he still formed his own family and lived a long happy life.

His family started when he met his first wife. He met his first wife, Olga Khoklova, a ballet dancer from Russia, he married her in 1918. They both had a son together named Paulo Picasso. Pablo refused to grant her a divorce when she asked for one since that meant he would have to give her half of his money. They remained married in name until she passed away in 1955. In 1927, when he was 46-year-old he met Marie-Therese Walter, a 17-year-old girl from Spain. They formed a relationship and she gave birth to Picasso's daughter Maya. They remained a couple until 1936, and she inspired some of his artwork. After Paris was liberated in 1944, Picasso began a new relationship with an art student in Francoise Gilot. They had a son together, Claude, in 1947, and a daughter, Paloma, in 1949. Their relationship did not work out as many of his previous ones, due to his continual infidelities and abuse. In 1961, at the age of 79, Pablo married his second wife, 27-year-old Jacqueline Roque. She was one of his career's greatest inspirations. Picasso painted more than 70 portraits of her during the final 17 years he was alive.

As his life got closer and closer to its end, he experienced a flurry of creativity. His artworks were a mixture of his previous styles and including colorful paintings and copper etchings. Art experts recognized the beginnings of Neo-Expressionism in Picasso's final works. As one of the greatest influences of 20th-century art, Pablo Picasso often mixed various styles to create new interpretations of what he saw. On April 8, 1973 Pablo Picasso passed away. He passed away in Mougins, France due to pulmonary edema and heart failure, while he and his wife were attending friends at dinner. He passed at the age of 91. Even though he passed his legacy continues to inspire the people.

Picasso’s influence continues to be remarkable to people. His art still up in many museums that are visited millions of times and looked at by many. People approach his art in many different ways. After his death, his family was left with about 45 thousand unsold paintings. In 1980 the Picasso estate was appraised at $250 million but it is said that it probably is in its billions. According to his daughter Maya, she inherited his art pieces.

It is very clear that Pablo Picasso has impacted history. He showed people a new way of seeing art. Although there were many changes and periods of his art it all made sense and some being beautiful and others being controversial. From his early childhood to his late adulthood, he was always finding inspiration through his personal life to create new art pieces. His life has made an influence on the world's history due to his creative and inspirational work.