Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish, Modernist and Cubist.
Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain.
His father was also an artist and the young Picasso showed both talent and enthusiasm for art from a very early age.
Although successful in art school, Picasso soon abandoned classes and moved to Paris to begin his career in earnest.
In 1901, Picasso lived with the poet Max Jacob in poverty.
At about the same time, Picasso’s Blue Period began.
From 1901 to 1904, Picasso painted almost exclusively with blues and related colors, creating cold, harsh paintings like La Vie, The Blue Nude and The Old Guitarist.
By 1905, Picasso had become one of the favorites of the influential art collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein and poverty would never plague him again.
Not one to linger long in any style, Picasso moved from blues to reds in what art historians call his Rose Period, bringing warmer colors and a more upbeat tone to his work. Many of the paintings of this period feature acrobats and harlequins. From there Picasso moved to his African Period and then to Cubism. From 1909 to around 1920, Picasso painted some of the most recognizable paintings of his career, distinct from his past works and pushing the envelope of modern taste. His Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, painted in 1910, and the Three Musicians, completed in 1921, represent the full range of Cubism, from analytic to synthetic.
Picasso’s later career was tremendously successful. He was a living icon of the artistic life and created art that the public loved and art that the public hated. He seems to be what the world thinks of when it thinks of an artist: not easily categorized, always creating art, and always ruffling feathers. He was very prolific, creating some 50,000 works over his career, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics and thousands of simple sketches and drawings. Picasso set the tone in the art world for 70 years and, along with Henri Matisse, brought 20th century art to the masses. Still today, Picasso’s work seems authentic and honest, bold and controversial, and, of course, popular with the public.
Not one to linger long in any style, Picasso moved from blues to reds in what art historians call his Rose Period, bringing warmer colors and a more upbeat tone to his work. Many of the paintings of this period feature acrobats and harlequins. From there Picasso moved to his African Period and then to Cubism. From 1909 to around 1920, Picasso painted some of the most recognizable paintings of his career, distinct from his past works and pushing the envelope of modern taste. His Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, painted in 1910, and the Three Musicians, completed in 1921, represent the full range of Cubism, from analytic to synthetic.
Picasso’s later career was tremendously successful. He was a living icon of the artistic life and created art that the public loved and art that the public hated. He seems to be what the world thinks of when it thinks of an artist: not easily categorized, always creating art, and always ruffling feathers. He was very prolific, creating some 50,000 works over his career, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics and thousands of simple sketches and drawings. Picasso set the tone in the art world for 70 years and, along with Henri Matisse, brought 20th century art to the masses. Still today, Picasso’s work seems authentic and honest, bold and controversial, and, of course, popular with the public.