Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso is probably the most important figure of 20th century, in terms of art, and art movements
that occurred over this period. Before the age of 50, the Spanish born artist had become the most well
known name in modern art, with the most distinct style and eye for artistic creation. There had been no
other artists, prior to Picasso, who had such an impact on the art world, or had a mass following of fans
and critics alike, as he did.
Although his art career spanned over a 7 decade period, Pablo Picasso is most known for his
introduction of cubism, and modern approach to painting, which set forth the movements to follow in to
the twentieth century. Not only was his art form well ahead of his time, but the works he created went
on to influence artists and painters down the line, for a period of more than 50 years, and still influences
the styles of many artists today.
In his early age, the young Picasso was enrolled at the school where his father taught. He quickly
grasped the concepts, surpassing even seniors at the institution. At the age of fifteen, a rich relative
offered to pay for his training at the Royal Academy of Art in Barcelona. However, Picasso never
graduated. He was restless, a trait that would remain with him throughout his professional and personal
life.
In 1900, Picasso moved to France. There, he lived a life of poverty. For the next three years, the young
artist continued to traverse between France and Spain. In about the same time, following the suicide of
his friend Carlos Casagemas, Picasso entered what later called by critics the Blue Period, when he
painted essentially monochromatic paintings in shades of blue and blue-green, only occasionally
warmed by other colors. In addition to the death of his friend, the artist was still struggling, living in
poverty. Two of his most famous paintings from this period is The Old Guitarist, and Blue Nude.

In 1904, Picasso met Fernande Olivier, a bohemian artist who became his mistress. Olivier appears in
many of Picass's paintings, many of which are influenced by his warm relationship with her, in addition
to his increased exposure to French painting. By 1905, Picasso became a favorite of American art
collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein. Gertrude Stein became Picasso's principal patron, acquiring his
drawings and paintings and exhibiting them in her informal Salon at her home in Paris. With his
improved financial situation and relationship with Olivier, Picasso enter a particularly joyful period in his
life. Between 1904 and 1906, Picasso's style is characterized by a more cheery style with orange and
pink colors, and featuring many circus people, acrobats and harlequins known in France
as saltimbanques. The harlequin, a comedic character usually depicted in checkered patterned clothing,
became a personal symbol for Picasso. This period was later called Picasso's Rose Period
For Picasso, the seminal moment was the Paul Cezanne retrospective held at the Salon d'Automne, one
year after the artist's death in 1906. Though he previously had been familiar with Cezanne, it was not
until the retrospective that Picasso experienced the full impact of his artistic achievement. In Cezanne's
works, Picasso found a model of how to distill the essential from nature in order to achieve a cohesive
surface that expressed the artist's singular vision. In about the same time, the aesthetics of traditional
African sculpture became a powerful influence among European artists. In France, Henri Matisse, Pablo
Picasso, and their School of Paris friends start blending the highly stylized treatment of the human figure
in African sculptures with painting styles derived from the post-Impressionist works of Cezanne
and Gauguin. Picasso starts to enter his African Period, which lasted from 1907 to 1909.

Guernica, 1937 by Pablo Picasso

Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent
civilians

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 by Pablo Picasso

He used distortion of female's body and geometric forms in an innovative way, which challenge the
expectation that paintings will offer idealized representations of female beauty

The Old Guitarist, 1903 by Pablo Picasso

This work was created in Madrid, and the distorted style (note that the upper torso of the guitarist seems
to be reclining, while the bottom half appears to be sitting cross-legged) is reminiscent of the works of El
Greco.