By- Angela Padrón
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) is one of the most famous Spanish artists who ever lived. Though he is most well-known for his Cubist style, Picasso experimented with several other styles throughout his life as well.
Early On: 1889–1900
Pablo Picasso showed signs of artistic talent at a very young age. At age eight, he completed a painting that he held onto until his elderly years. He entered the Barcelona Academy of Art “La Concha” at the age of thirteen, and the San Fernando Royal Academy in Madrid at sixteen. He felt restricted at school, however, and decided to leave early to study famous works of art, like those done by Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, and others he saw hanging in museums. Picasso’s early works were realistic representations of the life around him, with family, friends, and people in the community as subjects.
Blue Period: 1901–1904
When Picasso visited Paris, he decided it was a wonderful place for artisic inspiration. In 1901, however, his close friend Carlos Casagemas died. Casagemas’s death affected Picasso greatly and he expressed his grief in several paintings during this time, referred to as his “Blue Period.” He began to loosen the rules of traditional perspective drawing and painted objects that had hard, sharp edges. The subjects in his paintings were often posed in stiff, unemotional positions, and many of the works were dominated by shades of blue to express his sadness.
Rose Period: 1904–1906
During these years, Picasso used brighter colors in his works with visible pink and red tones. He also included more active, lively figures, like actors, acrobats, and athletes in his paintings.
African Period: 1906–1908
During this time period, Picasso was influenced by African art, including idols, statues, and masks from African cultures. The figures in Picasso’s works during this time resembled wooden or stone statues or ritual masks.
Cubism: 1907–1921
The development of photography allowed people and objects to be rendered lifelike through a method other than painting for the first time. This meant that artists like Picasso, were faced with the challenge of comeingup with a new, interesting style to appeal to viewers. Cubism began to develop as an art form that focused on shapes, plane, line, color, and light in an abstract way. Picasso made the edges of his figures rougher and simplified objects and figures into two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. The style gave Picasso a new freedom to express his thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
Classicism: 1917–1925
In his later years, Picasso returned to a more classical style, with more realistic and recognizable figures than those from his Cubism years. To keep his style unique, however, Picasso still experimented with some distortion of figures and space to.
Surrealism: 1925–1936
Later on, in his career, Picasso also experimented with surrealism, combining realistic elements with abstract ideas and thoughts.
The Later Years: 1937–1973
During these years, Picasso combined several of his styles and created several famous works, including “Guernica” (1937), “Weeping Woman” (1937), “Portrait of Francoise” (1946), “The Kiss” (1969), and “Self-Portrait” (1972).
No matter which style Picasso painted in, he developed a unique overall style of his own that is clearly recognizable in each of his works. His career spanned eight decades, and he created hundreds of memorable masterpieces. He will always be remembered as one of the fathers of Modern Art, and as one of the most innovative and unique artists who ever lived.
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