Pablo Picasso: Master of Cubism – Biography, Work & Life

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was a Spanish artist known for his painting, graphics and sculpture.

The Andalusian artist is considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century and created a total of about 50,000 works of art (including over 15,000 paintings).

Picasso was born in Malaga , the son of the painter José Ruiz Blasco and his wife Maria Picasso y Lopez. From 1901 onwards, he used his mother's surname, as she was from Italy, as his artistic name. He particularly liked this name because of the two "S" sounds; it sounded harmonious to him.

When one considers the diversity of artistic expressions in Picasso's work, it quickly becomes apparent that the Spanish painter was an extraordinary artist.

Even though his overall oeuvre is enormous, Picasso never lacked meticulous care in any single work: For the painting “Les Demoiselles d'Avignon” (March-July 1907 in the MoMA), he produced an impressive 809 preliminary studies. This painting, however, is a very special work, also considered key painting of Classical Modernism

This article provides an overview of Picasso's turbulent life, his artistic work, and his biography. Let's delve together into the world of one of the most important artists of all time.

Profile and short biography

Profile – Key Facts

The most important facts about the artist who is celebrated worldwide today:

Short biography

Pablo Ruiz was born on October 25, 1881, in Malaga, the son of an art teacher. He later adopted his mother's surname, Picasso, and grew up in Barcelona, ​​where he showed his artistic talent at an early age.

At the age of 14, he was admitted to the La Llotja Academy in Barcelona, ​​where his father later worked as a drawing teacher. Pablo Picasso also briefly studied at the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid.

In the early 20th century, he moved back and forth between France and Spain before finally settling permanently in Paris in 1904. In the City of Love, he experimented with different styles and developed his own distinctive works.

Art dealer Ambroise Vollard organized an exhibition of works by the Spanish artist in his Paris gallery. These are now known as the Blue Period . During this time, Picasso primarily created melancholic paintings, whose deep blue tones gave this artistic phase its name. The Rose Period , on the other hand, which lasted from 1905 to 1907, is characterized by a much more cheerful atmosphere and encompasses themes related to the world of the circus.

In 1907, Picasso painted the revolutionary work “Les Demoiselles d'Avignon” , which introduced a new style – Cubism .

The following months were marked by an intensive collaboration with his close associate Georges Braque, who shared Picasso's admiration for the art of Paul Cézanne. Together they developed analytical Cubism, in which colors and forms are broken down into geometric fragments.

Another groundbreaking innovation by Picasso was the introduction of collage , in which he integrated materials such as pieces of fabric, newspaper, or advertisements into his paintings. From then on, Picasso frequently changed his style and experimented with painting, sculpture, and Surrealist elements.

Pablo Picasso soon met the graceful Olga Khokhlova while working on stage designs and costumes for the Ballets Russes. From 1917 onward, she was his model and later his wife. The previous year, he had already designed the costumes and stage sets for another ballet.

Pablo Picasso went through a stylistically diverse phase, drawing on Cubism, classical tradition, and classical motifs. Although he participated in a major Surrealist exhibition in 1925, he is not considered part of the movement, as he primarily drew his inspiration from his real-world surroundings. His paintings, therefore, do not reflect the dream worlds and diffuse realms of the subconscious that are typical of Surrealism.

From 1934 onwards, Picasso repeatedly explored the theme of bullfighting and in 1937 created the important painting Guernica , which criticizes war. This work is now considered a key work of 20th-century art , inspired by the destruction of a Spanish city by German bombers during the Spanish Civil War .

As a supporter of the Republican government, Picasso fought against General Francisco Franco and never returned to Spain after his victory.

From 1943 onwards, the Spanish painter was in a relationship with the French artist Françoise Gilot .

In the following years, Picasso used lithography as his preferred graphic technique and also experimented with stained glass and ceramics. His second wife, Jacqueline Roque, became his most frequently depicted model.

Unlike many artists, Pablo remained in Paris during the German occupation. From 1946 until his death in 1973, he lived primarily in the South of France, where he continued to create a wide range of artworks, including paintings , sculptures , etchings, and ceramics.

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso suffered a heart attack in Mougins, near Cannes, in 1973, from which he presumably died (other sources cite pulmonary embolism as the cause of death). His legacy lives the Museo Picasso Musée Picasso in Paris was opened posthumously in 1985

Throughout his life, the passionate painter had various relationships with women who often served as both artistic muses and lovers. He was the father of four children.

Pablo Picasso – Life and Work in Detail

1881-1896: Childhood and early years

The artist of the century came from a family in which his father, José Ruiz Blasco, was an art professor and his mother was named Maria Picasso López.

Even at the age of 10, he showed an exceptional talent for drawing and became his father's pupil after the family moved to A Coruña in 1891. From that point on, he began to experiment with what he had learned and develop new forms of expression.

His ability quickly surpassed that of his father thanks to his exploratory approach. In A Coruña, his father supported him in exhibiting his first works when Pablo was only 13 years old – a testament to his talent and success.

In the autumn of 1895, the family moved to Barcelona, ​​and Pablo enrolled at the art academy there ( La Llotja ), where his father was employed as a drawing professor. The family had high hopes that their son would be successful as an academic painter.

1897-1898: First honors and further artistic training in Madrid

In 1897, Pablo's later fame in Spain seemed assured; his painting "Science and Charity" received an honorable mention at the Fine Arts Exhibition in Madrid

Spain's young capital seemed to be the next step for the up-and-coming artist Pablo Ruiz, who aspired to recognition and wanted to meet his family's expectations.

In the autumn of 1897, he duly set off for Madrid and enrolled at the prestigious Royal Academy of San Fernando . However, he found the instruction there unproductive and instead devoted more and more time to observing life around him: in cafés, on the street, in brothels, and especially in the Prado Museum , where Spanish painting was revealed to him.

He wrote enthusiastically:

The art museum is beautiful. Velázquez is first-rate; El Greco created some magnificent heads, but Murillo doesn't convince me with every one of his works

The artworks of these famous masters, as well as others, inspired Picasso at various times throughout his long career. For example, in 1898 at the Prado he copied Goya's works (a portrait of the bullfighter Pepe Illo and a drawing for one of the Caprichos featuring a Celestina [procuress] checking the stockings of a young Maja).

These characters reappear later in Pablo Picasso's late work – Pepe Illo appears in a series of etchings (1957) and Celestina becomes a kind of voyeuristic self-portrait, particularly in the series of etchings known as Suite 347 (1968).

The painter fell ill in the spring of 1898 and spent most of the rest of the year recovering in the Catalan village of Horta de Ebro, accompanied by his friend Manuel Pallarès from Barcelona.

1899-1901: Influenced by the artistic milieu in Barcelona

When Picasso returned to Barcelona , his life had changed dramatically: he had grown stronger, learned to live alone in the countryside, and now spoke Catalan. Most importantly, however, he had decided to leave art school and reject his family's plans for his future.

He even preferred his mother's surname and usually signed his works PR Picasso. By the end of 1901, he had completely abandoned the name Ruiz.

In Barcelona he moved in a circle of Catalan artists and writers who focused their attention on Paris.

These were his friends at the Café Els Quatre Gats (“The Four Cats”), named after the Parisian Chat Noir (“Black Cat”). Picasso had his first exhibition in Barcelona there in February 1900, and further exhibitions followed, featuring over 50 portraits (in various techniques).

In addition, there was a dark and atmospheric painting in the “Modernista” style called “Last Moments” (later painted over), which depicts a priest visiting a dying woman’s bedside.

This work was accepted for the Spanish contribution to the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Eager to see his own work in person and experience Paris firsthand, Pablo Picasso, along with his studio colleague, the Catalan Carlos Casagemas (1880–1901), set out – at least to conquer part of Montmartre, if not all of Paris.

1900-1901: The discovery of Paris and the loss of a loyal friend

One of the most significant artistic discoveries Picasso made during his trip to Paris (October-December) was the use of vibrant colors . This was not about the drab colors of the Spanish palette or the black of Spanish women's scarves, but about brilliant hues – like those found Vincent van Gogh

Using various media such as charcoal, pastels, watercolor, and oil, Picasso captured life in Paris ( Lovers in the Street , 1900). In the work “Moulin de la Galette” (1900), he paid tribute to French artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec , as well as the Swiss artist Théophile Alexandre Steinlen and his compatriot Ramon Casas from Catalonia.

After a brief period of only two months, he accompanied Casagemas, who was in despair due to a failed romantic relationship, back to Spain. In Málaga, Picasso tried in vain to cheer up his friend and finally decided to travel on to Madrid. There he found a position as art editor for the newly founded magazine “Arte Joven” .

Casagemas returned to Paris, attempted to shoot the woman he loved, then turned the gun on himself and died. The consequences for Pablo were significant: it wasn't just that he had lost his loyal friend and might feel guilty for having abandoned him.

Even more crucial was the fact that he drew inspiration from this emotional experience and the collected material, which would produce the powerful expressiveness in the works of his so-called Blue Period.

A few months later, in 1901, Picasso painted two portraits of the deceased Casagemas, as well as two scenes of mourners and an incantation. In 1903, Casagemas himself was depicted as an artist in the mysterious painting "La Vie" .

1901-1904: Pablo Picasso's Blue Period

Blue Period followed , during which Pablo Picasso met other artists with whom he discussed their work. He was already living in Montmartre in Paris at that time and surrounded himself with poets, painters, and writers, including Max Jacob and Juan Gris (an important representative of Cubism alongside Georges Braque), as well as Guillaume Apollinaire, Gertrude Stein, and Henri Matisse.

Between 1901 and mid-1904, Picasso moved back and forth between Barcelona and Paris. During this time, blue was the dominant color in his paintings. He transported materials for his work from one place to the other.

An example of this is his visits to the Saint-Lazare women's prison in Paris from 1901 to 1902, which provided him with free models and captivating subjects ( The Soup, 1902).

His depictions of Barcelona's street people reflected these visits: blind or lonely beggars and shipwrecked people in the years 1902-1903 ( Crouching Woman , 1902; Blind Man's Meal, 1903; Old Jew and a Boy, 1903).

motherhood also preoccupied Picasso at this time, as women were allowed to keep their breastfeeding children with them in prison. In his search for material to express traditional art historical themes in a contemporary way, he drew on this (women being allowed to keep their breastfeeding children with them in prison).

1904-1906: Move to Paris and Rose Period

In the spring of 1904, Pablo Picasso finally made the decision to move permanently to Paris, and his work reflects a change of mindset and, in particular, a reaction to different intellectual and artistic currents.

The traveling circus and the somersaults became a theme he shared with a new and important friend, Guillaume Apollinaire . For both the poet and the painter, these rootless itinerant performers ( "Girl Balancing on a Ball," 1905; "The Actor," 1905) became a kind of allusion to the artist's position in modern society.

Picasso explicitly made this identification in "Family of Saltimbanques" (1905), where he takes on the role of Harlequin and Apollinaire is the strong man (according to their mutual friend, the writer André Salmon).

Picasso's personal circumstances also changed when Fernande Olivier became his lover at the end of 1904. Her presence inspired many works in the years before Cubism, particularly during her trip to Gosol in 1906 (Woman with Loaves of Bread).

Surprisingly, color never really came easily to the gifted painter, and so he returned to a generally more Spanish (i.e., monochromatic) palette.

The tones of the Blue Period were replaced in the Rose Period, from late 1904 to 1906, by those of ceramics, flesh, and the earth itself ( The Harem, 1906). Picasso seems to have worked with color to approach sculptural form, particularly in 1906 ( Two Nudes ; La Toilette ).

His portrait of Gertrude Stein (1906) and a self-portrait with palette (1906) show this development as well as the influence of his discovery of archaic Iberian sculpture .

1906-1909: Much hype about Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

In 1906, Pablo Picasso began work on a controversial piece called “Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,” characterized by its violent depiction of the female body and the mask-like painting of the faces. Although rooted in art historical tradition, it was perceived as a direct attack because the women were prostitutes and challenged conventions.

Picasso rolled the painting out of the public eye for several years, even though he already had collectors. In 1908, he replaced the African-influenced stripes and mask-like heads with a new technique, elements from Cézanne's works incorporated.

Picasso's paintings from 1909, in particular, displayed the flat space and characteristic brushstrokes that they had discovered in Cézanne's work. Still lifes became an important theme for Picasso, inspired by Cézanne. Fernande's Cubist heads included the sculpture "Head of a Woman" (1909) and various related paintings such as "Woman with Pears" (1909).

1909-1912: The invention of Cubism

Picasso and Braque worked closely together in the following years (1909-1912) – this was the only occasion on which Picasso ever collaborated with another artist in this way.

Together they developed what is known as Analytical Cubism . Early Cubist paintings were often misunderstood by critics and viewers, as they were merely considered geometric art

The painters themselves, however, were convinced that their works represented a new form of reality , which differed from the traditional Renaissance style – particularly through the renunciation of perspective and illusions .

For example, on their canvases they displayed different views of an object simultaneously in order to convey more information than would have been possible in a single limited, illusory representation.

For Kahnweiler – a German-French gallery owner, art historian, and scholarly writer during Picasso's time – Cubism was a method for opening up closed forms. Instead of illusionistically imitating objects, they were "reproduced" .

Apollinaire compared this analytical process of fragmenting objects, space, light and shadow, and color to a surgical dissection.

Picasso applied this type of analysis from 1909 onwards, and particularly in the landscapes he painted during a trip to Spain in the summer of that year ( Factory at Horta de Ebro ). A series of hermetic portraits followed in 1910 ( Ambroise Vollard ; Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler ); in his paintings from 1911-1912, figures often sit in front of musical instruments ( The Accordionist, 1911).

Here, the artist merged figures, objects, and space in a restless manner. The palette was again limited to monochromatic ochre, brown, and gray tones.

Picasso, like many of his now legendary friends, lived at the Bateau-Lavoir artists' residence at that time; there was a lot going on: Picasso's banquet for Henri Rousseau was the talk of the town for a long time, and Picasso and Apollinaire were accused of stealing Mona Lisa

Neither Braque nor Picasso intended to fully embrace abstraction in their Cubist works. However, they tacitly accepted inconsistencies such as different viewpoints, axes, and light sources within the same image. Furthermore, the combination of abstract and representational elements on one plane led both artists to re-examine the meaning of two-dimensional elements such as newspaper captions.

An example of this is the song title “Ma Jolie,” which could possibly refer to events outside the painting or to compositional elements within the painting itself. The inclusion of text created the strong impression that Cubist paintings could be read from the picture plane rather than (as is traditionally the case) by immersing oneself in them.

Furthermore, the manipulation of the image form by the Cubists – for example, by using an oval – redefined the edge of the artwork and emphasized that in a Cubist painting the canvas represents real space.

Picasso's works gradually gained international recognition; they attracted attention in Germany in 1910 and in the USA in 1911. After a period of artistic inactivity during World War I, he made a foray – both artistically and otherwise – into ballet, which culminated in his marriage, at which point he gave up his bohemian lifestyle.

1912-1915: Synthetic Cubism – The Birth of Collage

From 1912 onwards, Picasso and Braque attached real paper ( papier collé ) and other materials ( collage ) to their canvases.

In doing so, they further developed the Cubist concept of a work of art as an independent, constructed object. During the synthetic phase from 1912 to 1914, colors were reintroduced, while industrial materials such as sand or printed wallpaper were frequently used.

Still lifes and, occasionally, heads were the main motifs of both artists. In Picasso's works, various references merge in his synthetic compositions – curves that allude to both guitars and ears.

This introduces a playful element into his works, which is characteristic of many of them (e.g., “Student with a Pipe”, 1913). These references suggest that one thing is transformed into another.

An example of this is the work “Absinthe Glass” (1914; six versions). It consists partly of a sculpture (bronze casting), partly of a collage (a real silver sugar sieve is welded to the top), and partly of painting (neo-impressionist brushstrokes cover white areas).

But this work is neither sculpture nor collage nor painting; it has layers that refer to two-dimensionality, even though the object is actually three-dimensional. The artwork thus hovers between reality and illusion.

By 1915, Picasso's life had once again taken a decisive turn, and with it, the direction of his art. At the end of the year, his beloved Eva died, and the painting "Harlequin" (1915), on which he had worked during her illness, testifies to his grief. It depicts a half-Harlequin, half-Pierrot artist in front of an easel with an unfinished canvas against a black background.

1915-1917: World War I, Avant-garde and Parade

The circle around the Cubist was torn apart by the First World War. While Apollinaire, Braque, and others went to the front, most of Picasso's fellow Spaniards returned to their neutral homeland. Picasso remained in France and in 1916 formed a friendship with the composer Erik Satie , which led him into a new avant-garde circle that remained active even during the war.

The young poet Jean Cocteau declared himself the leader of this talented group of people who frequented the Café de la Rotonde . Cocteau's idea for a wartime theatrical performance, in collaboration with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, led to the creation of "Parade ," a piece about a circus performance featuring imagery of the new century, such as skyscrapers and airplanes.

For the music, Cocteau turned to Satie, and for the stage designs and costumes, to Picasso. Work began in 1917, and although Picasso disliked traveling, he agreed to go to Rome with Cocteau to join Diaghilev and the choreographer Léonide Massine.

It was on this occasion that Picasso met his future wife, Olga Khokhlova, among the dancers. “Parade” premiered in May 1917 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and was seen as an attempt to undermine the solidarity of French culture.

Satie seemed to be the main target of the insults, partly because of his inclusion of airplane propellers and typewriters in the score. Picasso disarmed the audience with the contrast between the fundamentally realistic stage curtain and the impressive synthetic Cubist constructions carried by the characters in the ballet, especially the sideshow manager.

1917-1924: The New Mediterraneanism

Picasso's paintings and drawings from his late teens often appear surprisingly realistic in contrast to his earlier cubist works, which were sometimes created in parallel (such as “Passeig de Colom”, 1917).

Following his travels to Italy new Mediterranean spirit emerged in his work , particularly through the use of classical forms and drawing techniques.

This was reinforced by his conscious engagement with J.-A.-D. Ingres (for example, in Picasso's portrait drawings of Max Jacob and Ambroise Vollard ) as well as the late Pierre-Auguste Renoir . Even his Cubist work was influenced.

He became an established painter, represented worldwide by two art dealers from 1918 onwards. In that year, Picasso definitively broke with the Cubists, experimenting with various styles until 1924.

Through a more precise depiction of surfaces, forms, and colors, the artist gave his Cubist paintings a classical expression. This is clearly visible in the still life “Saint-Raphaël” (1919) or the two versions of “Three Musicians” (1921).

Picasso's only child with Olga, Paulo, was born in 1921. With Picasso's newfound reputation as a darling of society, he continued his collaboration with the Ballets Russes. During this time, Picasso designed costumes for Manuel de Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat (1919), Igor Stravinsky's Pulcinella (1920), de Falla's Cuadro Flamenco (1921), and Satie's ballet Mercure in Soirées de Paris Kompanie (1924).

André Breton described Picasso's designs for this ballet as "tragic toys for adults" created in the spirit of Surrealism

1924-1935: Surrealist influences

Although Picasso never became an official member of the group, he had close ties to the most important literary and artistic movement between the two world wars, Surrealism . The Surrealist establishment, including its chief propagandist André Breton, claimed him as their own, and Picasso's art gained a new dimension through contact with his Surrealist friends, especially the writers.

Many elements endorsed by the official circle were already ingrained in Picasso's work since Les Demoiselles. The creation of monsters, for example, could certainly be perceived in the disturbing juxtapositions and fractured contours of the human figure in Cubist works; Breton pointed in particular to The Strange Woman in a Shirt (1913).

Furthermore, the underlying idea of ​​Synthetic Cubism, to read one thing for another, seemed to align with the dreamlike imagery of the Surrealists.

What Picasso gained from the Surrealist movement were new themes – especially erotic ones – as well as an intensification of disturbing elements that were already present in his work.

The many variations on the theme of bathers, with their overtly sexual and distorted forms (Dinard series, 1929), clearly demonstrate the influence of Surrealism. In other works, the effect of distortion on the viewer's emotions can also be interpreted as fulfilling, which corresponds to the psychological aims of Surrealism. Picasso's drawings and paintings of the Crucifixion (1930-35) provide a good example of this.

In the 1930s, Picasso, like many surrealist writers, often played with the idea of ​​metamorphosis . For example, the image of the Minotaur, the monster of Greek mythology – half bull and half man – traditionally seen as the embodiment of the struggle between man and beast, becomes in Picasso's work not only an allusion to this idea, but also a kind of self-portrait.

Around this time, his marriage also began to falter; Picasso sometimes had two lovers simultaneously, who, in his opinion, "should settle their rivalry between themselves." connection between sexuality and artistic creativity during this period— a theme that would preoccupy him until the end of his life.

Finally, Picasso found his own unique form of Surrealism , which he expressed primarily through poetry . In 1935, he began writing poems, and within a year, from February 1935 to spring 1936, Picasso practically abandoned painting.

His poetry collections were published in both Cahiers d'Art (1935) and La Gaceta de Arte (1936 in Tenerife). A few years later, he wrote the surrealist play “Le Désir attrapé par la queue” (1941; Desire Trapped by the Tail).

First, however, came the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939), which shook Picasso, and resulted in the famous painting Guernica .

Immediately afterwards came World War II; during this time Picasso remained in Paris. In 1945, the isolation ended and Picasso turned to the south of France, where his late work was created in various locations.

This also includes the peace dove , which we all know, and which he designed in 1949 for a poster for the World Peace Congress in Paris.

Works by Pablo Picasso in our online gallery:

A comprehensive retrospective of the work of the cubist master:

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List of sources and bibliography

books

• Karmel, Pepe : Picasso and the Invention of Cubism . New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
• Léal, Brigitte, Christine Piot, and Marie-Laure Bernadac:  The Ultimate Picasso . New York: Abrams, 2003.
• Olivier, Fernande : Loving Picasso: The Private Journal of Fernande Olivier . Edited by Marilyn McCully. New York: Abrams, 2001.
• Richardson, John:  A Life of Picasso. 2 vols . New York: Random House, 1991-96.

Internet

• Britannica : Pablo Picasso , https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pablo-Picasso/Cubism
• James Voorhies: Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) , Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pica/hd_pica.htm
• NEUMEISTER – Munich art auction house : Pablo Picasso , https://www.neumeister.com/kunstwerksuche/kuenstler/3729/0/