Pablo Picasso

Pablo Ruiz Picasso (October 25 1881, Malaga, Spain - April 8 1973 Mougins, France) was one of the recognized masters of 20th century art.

The Spanish-born Picasso (his mother's family name) is probably most famous as the founder, along with Georges Braque, of Cubism. However in a long life he produced a wide and varied body of work, the best-known being the Blue Period works which feature moving depictions of acrobats, harlequins, prostitutes, beggars and artists.

While Picasso was primarily a painter (in fact he believed that an artist must paint in order to be considered a true artist), he also worked with small ceramic and bronze sculptures, collage and even produced some poetry. "Je suis aussi un poete," as he quipped to his friends.

Picasso hated to be alone when he wasn't working. In Paris, in addition to having a distinguished coterie of friends in the Montmartre and Montparnasse Quarters, (including Andre Breton, Guillaume Apollinaire, writer Gertrude Stein need a lot more names here) he usually maintained a number of mistresses in addition to his wife or primary partner.

Picasso's most famous work is probably his depiction of the German bombing of Guernica, Spain. This large canvas embodies for many the inhumanity, brutality and hopelessness of war. The painting of the picture was captured in a series of photographs by Picasso's most famous lover, Dora Maar, a distinguished artist in her own right. The Guernica hung in New York's Museum of Modern Art for many years, and is now in Madrid--Picasso stipulated that the painting should go to Spain when democracy was restored in that country.

As certain works, for example the Cubist pieces, tend to be associated in the public mind with Picasso, it is important to realise how talented Picasso was as a painter and draughtsman. He was capable of working with oils, watercolours, pastels, charcoal, pencil, ink, or indeed any medium with equally high facility. With his most extreme cubist works he came close to deconstructing a complex scene into just a few geometric shapes while at the same time being capable of photo-realistic pen and ink sketches of his friends. Picasso had a massive talent for almost any artistic endeavour he turned his mind to, extensive academic training, and a ferocious work-ethic.

Early Life

Picasso's father Don José was himself a painter and for most of his life was a professor of art at Spanish colleges (I think he only taught at two but I can't remember them at all).

The Picasso Museum in Barcelona features only his works, created while he was living in Spain. There are many precise and detailed figure studies done in his youth under his father's tutelage that clearly demonstrate his firm grounding in classical techniques, as well as rarely seen works from his old age.

Picasso and Pacifism

It is true that Picasso remained neutral during the Spanish Civil War, World War I and World War II, refusing to fight for any side or country. Picasso never commented on this but encouraged the idea that it was because he was a pacifist. Some of his contemporaries though (including Braque) felt that this neutrality had more to do with cowardice than principle.

As a Spanish citizen living in France, Picasso was under no compulsion to fight against the invading Germans in either world war. In the Spanish Civil War, service for Spaniards living abroad was optional and would have involved a voluntary return to the country to join either side. While Picasso expressed anger and condemnation of Franco and the Fascists through his art he did not directly act against them.

Similarly, he remained aloof from the Catalan independence movement during his youth despite expressing general support and being friends with activists within it. No political movement seemed to compel his support to any great degree.