(Photo: Argentina.
Revista Vea y Lea [Public domain],via Wikimedia Commons)This post may contain affiliate links.
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Picasso in 1962. (Photo: Argentina. Revista Vea y Lea [Public domain],via Wikimedia Commons)This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, My Modern Met may earn an affiliate commission. Please readour disclosurefor more info.
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Picasso was a child prodigy, and his artistic output began at a young age.
There are many fascinating details of Picasso’s life that help enrich understanding of his artwork.
Picasso with his sister Lola in 1889. (Photo: Public domain,via Wikimedia Commons)
A highly complex, if not difficult, individual, many events have shaped his life and legacy.
To learn even more, you could pick up a copy of Patrick OBriansacclaimed biography of Picasso.
Picasso with his sister Lola in 1889.
“The Picador,” 1890 (Photo: Public domain viaWiki Art)
(Photo: Public domain,via Wikimedia Commons)
1.
Pablo Picasso’s full name is much longer than you’d think.
The names are based off a list of saints and relatives.
Costume design by Pablo Picasso representing skyscrapers and boulevards, for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes performance of Parade at Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris 18 May 1917. (Photo: Public domain viaWikipedia)
Interestingly, his famous last name comes from his mother, Maria Picasso y Lopez.
And those are probably the reasons I adopted it.
Do you know what appealed to me about that name?
“Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper,” 1913. Collage, ink, and paper. (Photo: Public domain viaWikiArt)
Well, it was undoubtedly the double s,' which is fairly unusual in Spain.
Picasso is of Italian origin, as you know.
And the name a person bears or adopts has its importance.
“Olga in an Armchair,” 1918. (Photo: Public domain viaWikipedia)
Can you imagine me calling myself Ruiz?
His first words as a child foreshadowed his future.
Picasso’s mother said that his first word was piz which is short forlapizthe Spanish word for pencil.
It’s no wonder that his family started his art education early!
The Picador, 1890 (Photo: Public domain viaWiki Art)
3.
As a child prodigy, Picasso finished his first painting at 9 years old.
He began Picasso’s art education at 7 years old.
Picasso’searly pencil drawingsand oil paintings show how skilled he was as a child.
Picasso’s father gave up art after seeing the talents of his son.
There are later paintings by Ruiz, so clearly he didn’t give up completely.
Father and son would continue to have a volatile relationship, arguing frequently.
(Photo: Public domain viaWikipedia)
5.
He was much more than just a painter.
In terms of set design, Picasso began a collaboration with the Paris-based companyBallets Russesduring World War I.
He designed Cubist sets and costumes for several productions, which have become more celebrated over time.
Between 1935 and 1959 he wrote over 300 poems.
In the 1940s he wrote two full-length plays,Desire Caught by the TailandThe Four Little Girls.
Both were surrealist works written in a stream of consciousness style.
He was once suspected of stealing theMona Lisa.
In 1911, when Picasso was 29 years old,Leonardo da Vinci’sMona Lisawas stolen from the Louvre.
Both men were eventually exonerated.
Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper, 1913.
Collage, ink, and paper.
(Photo: Public domain viaWikiArt)
7.
Picasso helped invent the modern collage.
Together with Georges Braque, the co-founder of Cubism, Picassoinvented collageas we now know it.
In fact, the term comes from the French wordcoller, which means to glue.
Picasso fully embraced this technique, gluing fragments of wallpaper and newspaper clippings alongside his paintings.
He is the World’s Most Prolific Painter.
With a career that lasted over 75 years, Picasso had plenty of time to createand create he did.
Picasso didn’t just produce artwork, he oozed creativity and used every opportunity to produce material.
No other artist has come close to being so prolific during their lifetime.
Olga in an Armchair, 1918.
(Photo: Public domain viaWikipedia)
9.
No artist has had more artwork stolen.
In 2012, theArt Loss Registerlisted 1,147 stolen works by Picasso.
Judges later ordered the artwork returned to its rightful owner.
He was a well-known womanizer.
To say that Picasso had a complicated relationship with women is an understatement.
Many of Picasso’s mistresses were much younger, including Francoise Gilot.
She was just 21 years old when she met Picasso, who was 40 years her senior.
She served as his muse and they stayed together for 10 years, having two children.
Her memoir,Life with Picasso, details their tumultuous relationship.
Picasso’s many romantic relationships meant that he left behind a dysfunctional family.
The painter’s second wife, Jacqueline Roque, refused to let his children by Gilot attend his funeral.
Roque would later commit suicide, as would Marie-Therese, the mistress who broke up his first marriage.
