1881-1973

PABLO RUIZ PICASSO WAS BORN IN MALAGA IN 1881.

HE HAD TWO SISTERS CALLED LOLA AND CONCHA AND ACCORDING TO HIS MUMMY HIS FIRST WORDS WERE “PIZ, PIZ”, A SHORTENING OF LAPIZ .

HIS DAD CALLED JOSÉ WAS ALSO A PAINTER AND PABLO DRAW HIS FIRST WORKS IN HIS DAD’S ATELIER.

ONE NIGHT, HIS FATHER FOUND HIM PAINTING OVER HIS UNFINISHED SKETCH OF A PIGEON. OBSERVING THE PRECISION OF HIS SON’S TECHNIQUE HE FELT THAT PABLO HAD SURPASSED HIM AND VOWED TO GIVE UP PAINTING.

AT THE AGE OF FOURTEEN HE PAINTED A WONDERFUL PICTURE OF HIS MUMMY. SHE WAS QUITE WORRIED BY THE FACT THAT PABLO WAS NOT A VERY GOOD STUDENT AT SCHOOL BUT SHE REALISED THAT HE WOULD BECOME A GREAT ARTIST ONE DAY.

THE WHOLE FAMILY MOVED FIRSTLY TO LA CORUÑA AND THEN TO BARCELONA WHERE HIS DADDY TOOK A POSITION AT A SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS. THEN PABLO MOVED TO MADRID BUT QUIT ATTENDING CLASSES SOON AS HE DIDN’T LIKE FORMAL INSTRUCTION.

WHEN HE WAS NINETEEN YEARS OLD HE TRAVELLED TO PARIS, FRANCE. HIS DADDY BOUGHT HIM A RETURN TICKET AND THERE PICASSO SAW DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES AND WAYS OF

PAINTING.

THESE WORKS BELONG TO THE “BLUE PERIOD” WHERE HE MAINLY PAINTED USING BLUE TO EXPRESS HIS PROFOUND SADNESS.

THE “ROSE PERIOD” WAS A HAPPIER TIME FOR PABLO. HIS MOOD HAD CHANGED AND SO DID HIS PAINTINGS. HE NO LONGER USED BLUE BUT BRIGHTER COLOURS .

HE CO-FOUNDED THE CUBIST MOVEMENT.

PABLO WAS ALSO A CERAMICIST, A SCULPTOR AND THE FIRST ONE CREATING THE COLLAGE.

ONE OF HIS MOST WELL-KNOWN PAINTINGS IS “GUERNICA”. WHILE LIVING IN FRANCE, PABLO FOUND OUT ON THE NEWSPAPERS THAT A VILLAGE IN THE NORTH OF SPAIN HAD BEEN BOMBED. IT HAS BECOME A PERPETUAL REMINDER OF THE TRAGEDIES OF WAR.

PABLO PICASSO DIED AT THE AGE OF NINETY ONE IN MOUGINS, FRANCE.

WE CAN FIND HIS WORKS IN MUSEUMS ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

EVERY CHILD IS AN ARTIST. THE PROBLEM IS HOW TO REMAIN AN ARTIST ONCE WE GROW UP.