Pablo PicassoThe Best Known Artist of Our Times

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

• Picasso was born on October 25,1881 in Malaga, Andalusia, Spain to Don Jose Ruiz Blasco and Maria Picasso y Lopez.

• His full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Crispiano de la Santisima Trinidad.

Growing Up Picasso

• His father taught drawing and served as curator of Malaga municipal museum and dabbled in painting.

• His family moved to Corunna when he was 10 – Jose got a position as Professor of Drawing at the Instituto Da Guarda.

• Even as a young boy, it was apparent that Pablo had great potential as an artist.

Le Picador, 1889-1890Oil on wood

This was painted when he was 8 or 9 years old.

Profil Droit d’homme, 1892-1893Conté pencil

11 years old

•1895 – Don Jose transferred to the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona

•1896 – Picasso enrolled in the School of Fine Arts at age 14

•He required one day to complete entrance exams to SFA – the rules of the school allowed one month to complete entrance examination

Tetê de Vieillard, 1895Oil on Canvas

14 years old

• 1897 – Science and Charity wins “Honorable Mention” at Madrid General Fine Arts Exhibition

• 1897 – Science and Charity wins “Gold Medal” at Provincial Exhibition in Malaga

Science et charité, 1897Oil on canvas

• 1897 – Because of his success at the Exhibition in Malaga, Picasso is sent to Madrid to learn at the Royal Academy of San Fernando

• Picasso’s work was uninspired though – he did not stay long at the school

Fille bohemienne devant La Musciera, 1898 [1900] Pastel on paper

Tête d’homme à la Greco, 1899 Oil on Canvas

• 1900 – Picasso went to Paris for the first time– Divided next 3 years between Paris and Spain– Met Pedro Manach on first trip to Paris

• Did financially well during this period

Le Moulin de la Galette, 1900

The Blue Period• Spanned 1901-1904

• His paintings of this time were usually bathed in blues and greens, with wispy, sad-looking characters. They were known for creating feelings of sadness in the viewer.

• This period may have been attributed to the suicide of Picasso’s friend, Carlos Casagemas.

"...a new malaise of bitterness and wrath now drove his work toward a tragic expressionism. The obsession with

Casagemas's...suicide colored the entire Blue Period..."

--Pierre Cabanne, Pablo Picasso: His Life and Times (1977)

Miséreuse accroupie, 1902Oil on canvas

Le vieux juif (Le vieillard), 1903Oil on canvas

Vieux Guitariste Aveugle (1903)

• His Blue Period paintings were not well-received by the public– Works dated 1901 and earlier

continued to sell– Public still preferred naturalistic

subjects

The Rose Period

• Began in the beginning of 1905 when Picasso took up with Fernande Olivier

• Populated by saltimbanques, harlequins, and jesters

Acrobate et Jeune Arlequin (1905)

Gouache & pastel on cardboard

Bouffon et Jeune Acrobate (1905)

Charcoal, pastel & watercolor on paper

• Picasso was ‘discovered’ in 1905 by Gertrude Stein, who became a good friend and collector of Picasso’s works.

Portrait de Gertrude Stein, 1906Oil on canvas

Primitivism Leads to Cubism…

• 1906 – Met Georges Braque– Together they

explored African art, Cubism, and paper collage techniques.

Georges Braque:Houses at L’Estaque, 1908

Nu Debout, Trois Femmes,1907

Pencil & watercolor

Autoportrait, 1907Oil on canvas

Masque Nègre, 1907Oil on wood

• 1907- painted Les Damoiselles d'Avignon– ‘Brutally violent’ masterpiece that was

universally unappreciated by viewers– Bought by Daniel-Henry Kahweiler

• Became Picasso's principal dealer until 1918

Les Damoiselles d'Avignon (1907)

• 1910 – invented "cracked mirror" style of painting

Portrait de Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler,1910

Oil on canvas

• Fernande Olivier was “replaced” by Eva Gouel• Picasso starts using Cubism• Cubism was ridiculed by public, but the number

of Picasso collectors continued to grow• Picasso and Braque gave life to Cubism and

developed the style

Pipe, verre, as de trefle, bouteille de Bass, guitare, de (‘Ma Jolie’), 1914Oil on canvas

Compotier avec fruits, mandoline, verre sure une table dans un paysage, 1915Oil on canvas

Cubism Out, Surrealism In

• December 1915 - Eva died of tuberculosis

• 1915 - Picasso met writer Jean Cocteau– Cocteau became Picasso's good friend

• Picasso made first foray into theatre– Did set and costumes for Parade performed

by Ballets Russes

Sketch of set for Parade, 1917

• 1918 – Picasso married Olga Khoklova, one of the Russian dancers with Ballets Russes

• 1921 – Picasso andOlga's son Paul wasborn. Paul wasPicasso's onlylegitimate child

Portrait de Olga, 1919India ink & tempera on paper

•This is a painting of Picasso’s son Paul, as a harlequin.

Paul as Harlequin (1924)

• Around 1923, Picasso began to depart from Cubism, and turned towards classicism

• 1923 – Picasso broke ground with Surrealism

• His marriage with Olga started breaking up

• 1923 – Olga was “replaced” in Picasso's art by Sara Murphy

Women and War:Sources of Key Paintings

• 1927 – Met Marie-Therese Walter, and they began a clandestine affair

• 1935 – Picasso’s relationship with Marie-Therese produced a child, Maya

• 1935 – Went through divorce proceedings with Olga– Divorce proceedings were eventually dropped

– Although separated, the Picassos remained

married until Olga's death in 1955

• 1936 - Met photographer Dora Marr– Began an affair with Dora Marr even as he

continued to see Marie-Therese• April 26, 1937- German planes bombed and

strafe Guernica – a small Basque town in Spain• Bombing at Guernica produced Picasso's

anguished Guernica for the Spanish Pavilion of Paris World's Fair– Guernica embodied the horror and crime of

attack and Picasso's deep pain at what was happening to his country

Guernica (1937)

• German Occupation of France– Picasso rarely ventured out of his studio– He was occasionally harassed by

Germans

• 1943 - Met artist Francois Gilot, who replaced Dora Maar– Picasso was now 62 years old

Autobiographical Classicism Takes Priority in Last Years

• 1944 – Picasso joins Communist Party• 1946 – Francois Gilot moves in• 1947 – Picasso and Francois' son, Claude, is

born• 1948 – Participated in Warsaw Congress of

Intellectuals for Peace• 1949 – Picasso and Francois's daughter,

Paloma, is born

• 1950 – Picasso was awarded with the Lenin Peace Prize by the Communist Party

• 1953 – Francois left Picasso– She was tired of being "enslaved" to him

• 1953 – Met Jacqueline Rogue• 1957 – UNESCO (United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization) asked Picasso to design a mural for the building in Paris

• 1958 – The Fall of Icarus was installed in UNESCO's building in Paris

The Fall of Icarus, 1958

•1961 – Married Jacqueline Rogue

Jacqueline en mariee, de face I(XIV), 1961Aquatint, drypoint, engraving & scraper on Auvergne

• Kept painting until death in 1973– Only exception was in late 1965, when he

secretly had ulcer surgery

Picasso at his studio

Death Stinks, Doesn’t It?• Died April 8, 1973

– Died of heart attack brought on by pulmonary edema

– Died at age 91

• Estate yielded phenomenal inventory of remaining works- over 35,000 pieces of art

• Included paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, prints, and woodcuts

END