Spanish Artists

Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso, also known as Pablo Ruiz y Picasso is one of the greatest if not THE greatest representative of Modern Art. As one of the creators of cubism, his imaginative mind and creative talent placed him in an artistic elite. With the thousands of paintings, sculptures, and other works he created over the years, this artistic genius was undisputedly one of the most influential figures in 20th Century European and world art.

Picasso was born on October 25, 1881 in Malaga Spain and as the son of an academic painter and art teacher, began exploring his artistic side at a very early age. His family moved from La Coruña to Barcelona in 1895 where Picasso, an excellent student, was accepted into La Lonja, the School of Fine Arts. Contact with modernist groups early on in his development make their mark on the artists style and expression. His first art exhibition took place in Barcelona in 1900 and four years later, Picasso settled in Paris. The period of his life between his first exhibition and his move to France is referred to as his Blue Period, a time when his characteristic painting style involved mainly shades of blue and the subjects used for his work included people who had endured the hardships of life. His next stage, the Rose Period (from 1905 to 1906) features a warmer pink tone, and is inspired in the world of the circus.

The next big movement to appear was Cubism, of which Picasso was one of the originators, along with Georges Braque. Cubism is an artistic style based mainly on geometrical shapes. He had many friends in the art scene, including art dealers Ambroise Vollard and Berthe Weill and other artists such as Henri Matisse and Joan Miró, among many others.

Picasso was married in 1918 to artist Olga and the couple lived in Paris but traveled a great deal. In the late 20's he participated in the surrealist movement and later took an interest in sculpture. Picasso showed his work in many galleries in Europe and his fame increased steadily.

Despite living in France, Picasso closely followed events of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, which led to his landmark painting Guernica, a criticism of the war, currently displayed in the Queen Sofia Center of Art (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia) in Madrid. The painting had been in New York until 1981, the year it was taken to Spain. Picasso refused to take the painting to Spain until General Franco's Fascist rule ended.

While having spent a great part of his life in Paris, Picasso moved to the South of France in the late 1940's and later in 1961 he moved to Mougins where he continued to work on paintings, drawings and scultptures. He was preparing for two exhibitions when he died in 1973, showing his true passion and devotion to art.