pablo picasso the best known artist of our times
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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