Pablo Picasso the Spanish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, designer and ceramicist was born in Malaga, Spain in 1881. He was undoubtedly the 20th century’s master of form. He dictated the direction of art for the first 50 years of the century and worked prolifically until his death at the age of 92 in Paris, France.
Art historians often divide his work into separate periods. During his ‘Blue’ and ‘Rose’ periods (1900-07) he turned from portrayals of poor and isolated people to representatives of harlequins, acrobats, and dancers in warmer colours.
In 1904 he settled in Paris and became the key figure of a group of progressive artists and writers. In 1906 Picasso began analyzing and reducing forms.
Following his revolutionary painting ‘Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon’ (1907) he founded ‘Cubism’ with George Braque. Next he went on to pioneer ‘Dada’ and ‘Surrealism’.
In the 1920s he produced solid classical figures but at the same time he was exploring ‘Surrealism’. He started creating more violent and morbid works, which culminated in ‘Guernica’ (1937).
In later years he experimented with unique ways of seeing the world, often painting the women in his life, but never fully descended into abstraction.
Picasso lived in France, occasionally returning to Spain until the savagery of the Spanish Civil War, during which he produced ‘Guernica’ his most famous work.
A powerful ‘political statement’, it was a reaction to the Nazi’s bombing of the Basque town of Guernica. The monumental 14 metre mural represents art’s condemnation of Fascism.
The painting pivots around the central pyramidal structure, balanced by curves and straight lines. Picasso discarded colour to intensify the drama, producing a reportage-like photographic record.
Appalling images of mutilation, death and destruction, which Picasso had explored in earlier mythological bull scenes, reach an anguished crescendo in this painting.
Picasso’s sculpture ranks as highly as his painting. He was one of the first to use assembled, rather than modeled or carved materials. The most famous example is his ‘Head of a Bull, Metamorphosis’ (1943) which consists of a bicycle seat and handlebars. He was also an excellent printmaker and he illustrated numerous books.
‘Night Fishing at Antibes’, ‘The Nude on a Red Seat’, ‘Weeping Woman’ and ‘My Pretty’ are among his masterpieces.
