Picasso is considered one of the greatest artists of the last century thanks to his many artistic accomplishments. From an early age he showed his talents, even when he changed styles his ability was profoundly evident.
Picasso was born October 25, 1881 in Malaga but lived in France by the time he died in April 1973. He is known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso (sometimes people call him by his second name) but that isn’t his full name, which is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso. These are a series of names to honour various saints and relatives.
They say he showed skill for drawing at an early age and that his first words were ‘piz, piz’ a short version of lápiz which is the Spanish word for Pencil. At the age of seven his father decided to give him some formal training, in figure drawing and oil painting. Over the years his father noticed that he was improving to the extent that he was surpassing him and after a family grievance was determined to get his son in the School of Fine Arts. With help from his Dad and Uncle, Picasso was sent to the young artist to Madrid’s Royal Academy of San Fernando, the country’s foremost art school. After studying in Madrid he left on his first trip to Paris, where his first Parisian friend and room-mate. These were hard times for him as he had to burn his work to keep his room warm. Later he founded a magazine in magazine with Francisco de Asís Soler in Madrid where he illustrated cartoons sympathizing with the poor. From then on Picasso’s life changed.
The man was influential, he was the co – founder of Cubism, the other co-founder was George Braque. Cubism revolutionised art in Europe. The style was to look together, but broken up in an abstract way like it has to reconnect, but doesn’t need to be as that is the sense you get. You’re meant to look at it via multiple viewpoints that are why it looks like it’s broken up and reassembled.
It is estimated that Picasso had created 50,000 pieces of artwork although this figure fluctuates depending on who you ask, if we were to break that down then the numbers would look like this 1,885 paintings, 1,228 sculptures, 2,880 ceramics, 12,000 drawings and the rest in prints, tapestries and rugs. Also another fact is that he is the artist with the most pieces of artwork stolen with the figure coming in at 550 and several of Picasso’s paintings rank among the most expensive paintings in the world.
If you are staying in a Costa del Sol villa and are going to pop by Malaga then you can have a look at the place where Picasso grew up and was inspired to make masterpieces. He is an artist who even though isn’t with us still has an impact on today’s society. Picasso’s later pieces of art are what many know about is if you were to look around today you’d maybe see a piece of his art on a woman’s bag or a pen or on a book.
Martin Wynn
