Pablo Picasso: The Modern Artist
The Talent
Pablo Ruiz y Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain on October 25, 1881. Born in a family of artistic talent his father Jose Ruiz Blanco himself a professor of drawing and art, Pablo started displaying his artistic skills from a very young age in spite of not performing well in other subjects at school. The reason may be his suffering from dyslexia which made school studies difficult for him. After his family moved to Barcelona when he was 14, he was admitted to Barcelona Art Academy by his father who taught there. Both Pablo’s mother Maria Picasso Ruiz and his father recognized the talent of their son and saw to it that Pablo could take up his career as an artist. The decision by Pablo’s parents became momentous as Pablo went to become one of the most famous modern artists spanning a period of over 70 years. It is obvious that the artists who came after him were immensely influenced by his art.
The Periods
Pablo started painting at his own studio simultaneously exhibiting his works. Initially he started painting pictures of poor people depicting their sad lives. During that time he drew his paintings mainly in shades of blue which later on came to be known as the Blue Period of his painting. Thereafter he moved on to painting pictures of happier objects like circus performers which radiated happiness. This period of his painting came to be known as the Rose or Pink Period.
Beyond Tradition
Taking art away from tradition was Pablo’s forte. He was always experimenting with forms and styles and continuously innovating. His days of studies at Paris and Madrid had instilled in him lot of new ideas which he used as experiment in his painting going out of the traditional formats of art. Inspired by such experimentation, he painted people’s faces as masks as he felt influenced by African masks. His painting distorted human figures to such an extent that he was believed to be crazy by some people.
