Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born on 25 October, 1881, in Plaza de la Merced, Málaga, Spain. He was a legendary figure and remains the most famous artist of the twentieth century. He dominated the artistic avant-garde up until the Second World War and few artists have not been influenced by his work. His inventive brilliance allowed him to see and subsequently depict the world in a revolutionary and previously unimaginable way. He was a master of many different artistic styles and media but his most significant contribution to art was in the his creation and development of Cubism. Picasso also worked in Surrealistic and Neo-classic styles and developed both extensively.

Picasso's father, José Ruiz Blasco was a talented still-life artist who taught drawing and was curator of the local museum. His birth was difficult, cigar smoke was apparently blown into the babies face to induce breathing. He was the only boy in the family and was regarded to be extremely handsome. His pale face was dominated by dark eyes which were called 'embarrassing in their intensity' by his friends. He took on his mothers name as Ruiz was very common in the area.

Picasso was precociously intelligent and sensitive. His mother, María Picasso López, and father encouraged his artistic ambitions from a young age. His father taught him to draw in the academic discipline, which he soon mastered; at an children's drawing exhibition, as an old man, he remarked, "When I was their age I could draw like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like them".

In 1895, he moved to Barcelona and where he entered advanced classes at the La Lonja Academy. Not long after starting at the Academy he broke from the academic tradition. This was furthered by eight months of sketching, working and eating with the peasants of the primitive village of Horta de San Juan in Catalonia, where he recuperated after scarlet fever in early 1898.

In 1900, he travelled to Paris, even though Barcelona offered an intellectual and bohemian atmosphere. At the time, every young artist made their way to Paris. Between 1900-1903 he alternated between Paris and Barcelona. He studied the Greek, Roman and Egyptian rooms at the Lourve and also the works of Bonnard, Denis, Toulouse-Lautrec and others at the galleries of the Rue Lafitte. He spent his evenings in Paris seeking out the subject matter of Toulouse-Lautrec - cafes and brothels. Paris offered every avant-garde style and Picasso quickly assimilated the fundamentals of each. Many of Picasso's most intimate friends were poets, especially Max Jacobs who exposed him to Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine and Mallarmé despite his poor French.

Picasso preferred to sleep by day and work by night. He lived with Max Jacobs and they were able to share the one bed due to Picasso's nocturnal tendencies. They were poor and bundles of Picasso's drawings were burnt for warmth. Picasso was deeply depressed by the suicide of his old friend, Carlos Casagemas. These trials and tribulations inspired the hauntingly depressed and cold Blue Period (1901-1904). This was his first independent style and was followed by his Rose Period (1905-1906), which was inspired by the statuesque beauty of Fernande Olivier whom he met in 1904. She provided Picasso with a feeling of security. Rather than poverty he began to depict acrobats and romantic Harlequins inspired by the Medrano Circus. The Rose period paintings sold well and Picasso was out of poverty for good.

In 1907, he painted 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' which heralded the beginning of Cubism with its African mask inspired faces. The five figures, who are prostitutes, are made of angular, flat planes of colour. They are arranged with three standing to the back left, one crouching at the front in the bottom right, and one standing further back in the top right. Shading, although present, is not academically correct and so does not give the illusion of depth. The only indication of depth is given by the over lapping of forms, there is no use of perspective or change in size, colour intensity or focus. The still life of fruit at the bottom provides that hint of depth as it is in front of all five women. The method of figurative painting varies through the work, some is traditionally toned, some flat, some stylised and some distorted. The crouching woman's face has enlarged eyes and a simplified nose plane giving her the look of an African wood sculpture. The painting was originally intended to include a sailor.

In 1912 he fell in love with Marcelle Humbert ('Eva') who had inspired a burst of creative energy that produced his Cubist paintings. Braque and Picasso worked together in Paris in winter and in the country in summer. When World War One broke out in 1914 Braque enlisted, as did his friends Apollinaire and Derain. As Picasso was a pacifist Spaniard in France he did not enlist. Picasso was left feeling isolated and depressed and found it hard to work. His loneliness increased when Eva died of Tuberculosis in 1915.

In 1917 Picasso went to Rome to design the decor and costumes for 'Parade' a ballet written by Jean Cocteau. 'Parade' was based on the scenes of popular circus life on the Parisian Boulevard. Picasso combined both his Rose Period and Cubism to create the look of 'Parade'. The opening night of 'Parade' was a dramatic flop.

Whilst in Rome he met Olga Koklova and they married on 12 July, 1918. With her encouragement Picasso became the fashionable focus of every salon and was fêted by Parisian socialites. He painted Cubist landscapes and still-lifes and mother-child paintings when Olga became pregnant. She gave birth to Paulo on 4 February, 1921.

In 1923 André Breton named Picasso as an initiator of Surrealism, but he opposed their use of the irrational and subconscious. In 1925 Picasso painted 'The Three Dancers' which displayed violent emotion and distortion of the figure. These human monsters continued to appear throughout the late 20s and 30s. At this time his heavy, statuesque women were in Neo-Classic style.

In 1927 Picasso began his affair with Marie-Thérèse Walter, after he became dissatisfied with his lifestyle. Picasso separated with Olga in 1935, when Marie-Thérèse became pregnant with Picasso's daughter, Maia. He could not divorce her as he was still a Spanish citizen. Olga remained in the background of his life (she wrote him abusive letters daily and screamed insults at him when she could track him down in public places) until her death in 1955 from cancer.

Picasso settled back into his bohemian lifestyle and met Dora Maar in 1936. She gave him intellectual stimulation. This was the year of the Spanish Civil War. Picasso supported the Republican Government, on the peoples side, against Francos military uprising.

On 26 April, 1937, Nazi bombers, paid by Franco, bombed the little town of Guernica in the Basque region. Picasso was appointed Director of the Prado, and the Government commissioned him to paint a mural, for the Spanish Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Paris. In 1937, he used this commission to paint 'Guernica' as a protest. He painted the 25ft x 11ft work in one month. Picasso created the work to show his deep hatred of war through elements of Cubism, Expressionism and Surrealism. It is an interior in the bombed town and depicts the tortured souls of the figures with organic, ghost-like line. It is monotone with the black taking on a purple hue. The images are deeply symbolic, including a dying bull representing Spain and a cubist horse in pain.

In 1943, Picasso met Françoise Gilot, and their relationship aggravated Dora's disturbed mental state, prompting a breakdown. With Françoise, Picasso had a short period of security in which he painted the Joie de Vivre works of nymphs, satyrs and centaurs. Pablo and Françoise settled after World War Two, first at Antibes, then at La Galloise villa in Vallauris, where he took up pottery. They had two children together, Claude (born 1947) and Paloma (born 1949), before Françoise left in 1953. She returned in 1954 only to find Jacqueline Roque had taken her place.

In March 1961 Picasso married Jacqueline and she provided a peaceful atmosphere for the rest of his life. His works of the 50s and 60s were technically admirable but far less imaginative than his earlier works. He created variations on works by Delacroix, Velázquez and Manet thus revealing he had retreated from the avant-garde.

Examples of Picasso's work include: 'Guernica' 1937, 'Head of a Woman' and 'Three Musicians' 1921.  Picasso is seen here in playful mode.

In late life he became a recluse, a prostate and gall bladder operation combined with failing eyesight halted his painting. On 8 April, 1973, Pablo Picasso died at Mougins, France. He was, is and will always be the most influential twentieth century artist.

A Summary of Picasso's major style, Cubism, is included.

This Biography was written by myself.
Please feel free to use this as a resource, not an assignment.
If you have any questions, suggestions or further information please email me.

Bibliography

Hopwood, G., 'Handbook of Art', North Clayton; The Specialty Press, 1979.
Gardner, H., 'Art Through The Ages', New York; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. Lucie-Smith, E., 'Art Today', Oxford; Phaidon, 1983.
Read, H., 'A Concise History of Modern Painting', New York; Praeger Publishers, 1974.
Read, H., 'A Concise History Of Modern Sculpture', London; Thames and Hudson, 1974.
Williams, D. and Wilson B. V., 'From Caves To Canvas, An Introduction To Western Art', Sydney; McGraw-Hill, 1992.
'The Great Artists: Part 71, Picasso', London; Marshall Cavendish, 1986.
Arnason, H. H., 'A History of Modern Art -3rd Edition', New York; Harry N. Abrams, 1986.
'Masterpieces of The Twentieth Century; The Beyeler Collection', Sydney; The Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1997.
Hughes, R., 'The Shock of The New', London; British Broadcasting Corporation, 1980.
Feldman, E. B., 'Varieties of Visual Experience -2nd Edition', New York; Prentice-Hall, 1981.

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