Biography of Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a Spanish artist and one of the greatest art masters of the 20th century.

Picasso was highly recognized during his lifetime and demonstrated technical versatility and unparalleled artistic productivity.

He produced thousands of works, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics and works on other media, using different materials.

He was also one of the founders of Cubism, one of the European avant-gardes that is part of modern art. Cubism sought to geometrically deconstruct the image and bring new artistic possibilities beyond mere reproduction.

The artist was greatly influenced by Greek, Iberian and African arts, easily visible in his works.
Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga, in the region of Andalusia, Spain, on October 25, 1881.

He was baptized with a long name: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.

Pablo grew up in a favorable environment, as his father was a painter and draftsman and taught him his first steps. Therefore, he painted his first canvas at the age of 8, depicting bullfighting scenes (The Bullfighter). At the age of 14, he found recognition at painting schools.

The family moved from Malaga to Barcelona in 1896, following the death of Picasso's sister from diphtheria. There, the young man began his career as a painter and met many Catalan artists, such as Carles Casagemas, Joan Vidal Ventosa, Cardona and others.

In 1898 he enrolled in the most renowned Spanish arts academy, the “Real Academia de Belas-Artes de San Fernando”, in Madrid. However, that same year, he fell ill with scarlet fever and returned to Barcelona.

In 1900, he traveled to Paris and adopted that city as his home, but until 1904 he still had ties with Barcelona.

The following year, in 1901, his friend Casagemas committed suicide, which had a major impact on his personal and artistic life. At that moment, Picasso began the so-called Blue Phase. Later, recovered from the intense melancholy, more hopeful and happy, Pablo dedicates himself to the Pink Phase.

It was in the French capital that he met his avant-garde peers, such as André Breton, Guillaume Apollinaire and the writer Gertrude Stein.

After holding some exhibitions, Picasso overcame financial difficulties and continued his almost frenetic production.

In 1907, with the artist Georges Braque, Pablo ventured into aesthetic experiments based on the geometrization of forms and the appropriation of African art, giving rise to Cubism.

His versatility led him to dedicate himself to sculpture, engraving and ceramics throughout the duration of World War II.