Remembering Pablo Picasso, a Master of Modern Art

Today, April 8, 2023, marks the 50th anniversary of the great artist 

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso. A name that sounds too long and bizarre. But, if you retain the first and last words alone, the confusion is over and there emerges the image of one of the most talented artists the world has ever seen – Pablo Picasso.

Self portraits by Pablo Picasso

Today, April 8, 2023, marks the 50th anniversary of his death. 
There is no doubt that Picasso is considered to be one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. He was born in Malaga, Spain on October 20, 1881, and showed a passion and skill for drawing from an early age. From the age of seven, Picasso received formal artistic training from his father José Ruiz y Blasco, who was an artist himself, earning a living painting birds and other game animals. It was during this time that the father found young Pablo painting over his unfinished sketch of a pigeon, and he realized the talent of his son. Later, at the age of 13, Picasso attended the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, where his father taught. In 1897, Picasso joined Madrid’s Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, a renowned art academy in Spain, where he came closer to the works of celebrated artists including Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, El Greco, Francisco Goya, and Diego Velázquez in various galleries and museums.

Bather with Beach Ball, 1932

In 1900, Picasso first went to Paris, the center of the European art scene. There he lived with Max Jacob, a struggling poet and journalist. Since their income was minimal, the two lived in abject poverty, and it is said that they sometimes resorted to burning the artist’s paintings to stay warm. By that time, Picasso’s works, especially landscapes, had started reflecting the elements of Symbolism and his own interpretation of Modernism. He then relocated to Madrid, where he partnered with his friend Francisco Asis Soler on a literary magazine called ‘Young Art’, for which he illustrated articles and created cartoons. It was there he started using the signature, ‘Picasso’. The ‘Picasso’ in his name is actually from his mother, Maria Picasso y Lopez.

Head of a Woman, 1961

During this time, African art started influencing him, and Picasso created one of his controversial artworks, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which was the beginning of the Cubist movement, along with his painter friend Georges Braque. However, his first work invited wrath from the art lovers as well as the artist fraternity. The main characteristics of these paintings are the use of earth tones and the depiction of deconstructed objects with complex geometric forms. The next phase was Synthetic Cubism. In the next few years, he experimented with Neoclassicism and Surrealism as well.

Guernica

During the 1930s, Picasso’s works such as his well-known Guernica, a unique depiction of the Spanish Civil War, reflected the violence of wartime. The menacing minotaur became a central symbol of his art, replacing the harlequin of his earlier years. His most famous work, Guernica, is a powerful political statement, painted as an immediate reaction to the Nazi’s devastating casual bombing practice on the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.
Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. 
While living in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II, Picasso was allegedly approached by a German officer who, upon seeing a photograph of Guernica in his apartment, asked, “Did you do that?” to which Picasso famously replied, “No, you did.”

Over the course of his 78-year career, Picasso produced an impressive 147,800 pieces, including 13,500 paintings, 100,000 prints and engravings, 300 sculptures and ceramics, and 34,000 illustrations.
In 1911, when the famous painting Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci was stolen from the Louvre, Picasso’s friend, the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, was taken into custody for questioning and falsely implicated Picasso as a suspect. Both were later released. These were the early days of Picasso’s career when he was still struggling to make a name for himself.

Three Musicians, 1921

Later, when Picasso became a household name, his signature became so valuable that he could use it as currency. For instance, he would write a check for a meal, and the restaurateur would keep the slip of paper with his precious signature instead of cashing it. That was the height of his fame.

The She Goat, 1950 

Picasso was not only a master painter, but also a sculptor, printmaker, ceramics artist, etching artist, and writer. He has a few poems and plays to his credit. His work matured from the naturalism of his childhood through Cubism, Surrealism, and beyond, shaping the direction of modern and contemporary art for decades to come.

Pablo Picasso's drawings

Picasso once said, “Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” He believed that “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls” and declared that “Give me a museum and I’ll fill it.”

The Old Guitarist, 1903

Despite living through two world wars, siring four children, appearing in films, and writing poetry, Picasso continued to create art until his death in 1973. He was a visionary who believed that “Everything you can imagine is real.”