May 16, 20232 min read

Picasso Study

We worked with various members/students and learned about one of the greats! Picasso.

Interesting facts about Picasso

- Pablo had his first exhibit at age 13, when he showed his paintings in the backroom of an umbrella store - Pablo’s home was a garret; he worked by the light of a single candle that he stuck in a bottle.

Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain, on the 25th day of October, 1881. His father Jose Ruiz was a painter and art teacher. Maria Picasso Ruiz was the artist’s mother. He was fourteen when the family moved to Barcelona. The painter and sculptor, was the most influential artist of the 20th century. He was a founder of the abstract movement and, with his friend Georges Braque, originated cubism. During Picasso’s early years in Paris, he painted with mostly blue and rose tones as he studied line, shape, and value.

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.

During these years, his art reflected his dismal surroundings. Homeless outcasts were the subjects of many of his fairly realistic early paintings. After seeing African masks and sculptures, his works became more simplified and angular leading up to the revolutionary new style known as Cubism. Picasso didn’t sell much of his work during these early years. But he worked continuously, always experimenting with different styles of painting. Though Picasso lived to be 92 and became the most famous artist in the world, he spoke of his youthful days in Paris as "the happiest time in my life."