Pablo Picasso: Influential Artist of the 20th Century and Co-Creator of Cubism

Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973

Fun Facts About Pablo Picasso

Born on October 25 1881 in Málaga Spain, Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, Pablo Picasso was without question one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century. Together with Georges Braque, he also created Cubism.

• Picasso’s full name has 23 words. Picasso was baptized Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso. He was named after various saints and relatives. The “Picasso” is actually from his mother, Maria Picasso y Lopez. His father is named Jose Ruiz Blasco.
• When he was born, the midwife thought he was stillborn. Picasso had such a difficult birth and was such a weak baby that when he was born, the midwife thought that he was stillborn so she left him on a table to attend his mother. It was his uncle, a doctor named Don Salvador, that saved him: ‘Doctors at that time,’ he told Antonina Vallentin, ‘used to smoke big cigars, and my uncle was no exception. When he saw me lying there he blew smoke into my face. To this I immediately reacted with a grimace and a bellow of fury’”
• Picasso’s father was also a painter, as well an art professor. This would influence Picasso as he grew up.
• In 1895, when Picasso was a teenager, his seven-year-old sister died from diphtheria. It was a traumatic event that would also influence his later work.

• The family moved to Barcelona after the death of Pablo’s sister.
• In Barcelona, Pablo’s father worked at the School of Fine Arts. He persuaded the officials there to let young Pablo (then only 13 years old) to take an entrance exam. To their surprise, he did very well on the exam and was soon admitted into the school.
• Pablo Picasso was later sent by his father to study at the Royal Academy of San Fernando (in Madrid, Spain).

• Picasso was a rebel even in his school days. He wore long dresses and long hair, going against current fashions.
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  "The Old Guitarist" from Picasso's Blue Period

  Picasso was an excellent art student, but he resisted other studies and was often disruptive. He was thrown into detention often, but he didn’t mind because he was allowed a sketchpad, which he delighted in using.

• Pablo had his first exhibit at age 13, when he showed his paintings in the back room of an umbrella store.
• At 16, Picasso was sent to the Royal Academy of Madrid, where students drew from plaster casts and copied works of the old masters. Picasso’s father soon became angry with his son’s rebellious behavior, long hair, and strange clothes. He believed that Pablo was wasting his talent and scolded him: “why don’t you cut your hair and paint sensibly?” In 1900, Picasso left for Paris—then the center of the art world. He lived in a cold, rundown building painting constantly, sometimes surviving for days on only a piece of bread.
• While living in Paris (1900) Pablo had lots of financial problems and he burned many of his paintings to stay warm.

• His Blue Period lasted from around 1900 – 1904. This period was named for both the colors he favored and the subject matter of his paintings, which often depicted people with sad expressions.
• His aptly named Rose Period took place between 1905 and 1906, during which the artist used many pink tones and often created circus scenes.

• While in Paris, Pablo Picasso had a propensity for entertaining and had among his friends people such as Andre Breton and Gertrude Stein.

• When the Mona Lisa disappeared from the Louvre in 1911, a friend of Picasso’s was arrested first. The friend pointed the finger at Picasso. Both men were questioned, and both men were found innocent.

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  “Girl Before a Mirror” in an example of Picasso’s Rose Period

  Picasso also had an active love life and usually had several mistresses along with a wife or a primary partner.

• In fact, he liked women who were much, much younger than he was. Picasso had many lovers and three wives. Most of the women he was involved with were significantly younger than he was. His second wife was 52 years younger.
• His real work and career as a painter is said to have begun around 1894 with a painting called ‘The First Communion’ which showed his sister Lola, and the more famous painting by Pablo Picasso called ‘Portrait of Aunt Pepa’.
• No artist has ever been as famous in his own lifetime
• Picasso painted his own variations of other artists work
• He had no appreciation for women artists.

 

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