Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, poet and playwright who spent most of his adult life in France. As one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for being one of the most prolific painters in history with over 50,000 works.
Born on October 25th 1881 into a family with artistic roots (his father was an artist and art professor), Picasso showed great talent and skill from an early age. He first studied under his father’s tutelage before attending Barcelona’s Fine Arts Academy at age 14. In 1895 he moved to Madrid to study at the Royal Academy of San Fernando but became frustrated with its traditional teaching methods and returned home after only a few months. A year later he started exploring different styles on his own while continuing to support himself through various odd jobs.
In 1900 Picasso traveled to Paris where he would live for most of the remainder of his life. There he met many other artists who would influence his work including Henri Matisse, Georges Braque and Julio Gonzalez. He also began frequenting various bohemian cafes and developed a drinking problem which plagued him throughout his life. His time in Paris coincided with great social change as well as rapid advancements in technology (the introduction of electricity and automobiles). This led Picasso to experiment boldly with new techniques such as Analytic Cubism (which deconstructed objects into their geometric forms) and Synthetic Cubism (which incorporated everyday objects into paintings).
During World War I Picasso became interested in Surrealism although he never officially joined the group; instead his work from this period tended to be more expressionistic than earlier periods. In 1917 he married Olga Khokhlova, a ballerina who introduced him to high society; they had one son Paulo born in 1918. The 1920s were prosperous years for Picasso marked by celebrity status due to both his artwork and lifestyle choices – he had numerous affairs despite being married – as well as critical acclaim; during this “Golden Age”Picasso painted some of his best known works including Les Demoiselles d’Avignonand Guernica.
The 1930s were more difficult both politically (with the rise of Fascism leading up to World War II) and personally (Khokhlova died in 1955 after years of estrangement). Politically inspired works such as Guernica expressed Picasso’s outrage at war while paintings like Weeping Woman conveyed his sense of despair at humanity’s capacity for violence. After Germany occupied France during WWII Picasso remained in Paris where he joined the French Communist party; because communist imagery often featured prominently in his work from this time onwards American museums largely ignored it making it hard for him to gain recognition there until late in life.
In 1943 Picasso married Francoise Gilot with whom he had two children: Claude born 1947and Paloma born 1949(Gilot left him 10 years later). His final partner Jacqueline Roque whom he married 1962 remained loyal until her death 1986; she appears frequently acrossPicasso’s oeuvre during these latter years particularly towards the end when failing eyesight meant that faces were harder for him to paint accurately from memory resulting instead simplified or distorted portraits Jacqueline’s likeness can be seen for example 1981’s Buste de Femme(Jacqueline)and 1982’s Femme Assise Pres du Feu(Jacqueline au Livre). During these later yearsPicassocontinued working right up until days before his death on April 8th 1973 aged 91 having produced an astonishing body work estimated between 50 000 200 000 items comprising painting sculpture prints ceramics theatre set design poetry etc., truly cementing Pablo Picasso’s legacy as one greatest artists all time