Artist Biography

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish

 

     Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born October 25, 1881 to Don José Ruiz Blasco (1838-1939) and Doña Maria Picasso y Lopez (1855-1939). The family at the time resided in Málaga, Spain, where Don José taught drawing at the local school of Fine Arts and Crafts. The first ten years of Pablo’s life passed in Málaga. The family was far from rich, and when 2 other children were born (Lola (Dolorès) in 1884 and  Concepción (Conchita) in 1887) it was often difficult to make both ends meet. When Don José was offered a better-paid job, he accepted it immediately, and the Picassos moved to the provincial capital of La Coruna, where they lived for the next four years. There, in 1892, Pablo joined the school of Fine Arts, but mostly his father taught him. By 1894 Pablo’s works became so perfect for the boy of his age that his father recognized Pablo’s amazing talent, handed him his brush and palette and declared that he would never paint again.

     In 1895 Don José got a professorship at “La Lonja”, the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, and the family settled there. Pablo passed his entrance examination on an advanced course in classical art and still life at the same school. He was the best than senior students in their final exam projects.

     “Unlike in music, there are no child prodigies in painting. What people regard as premature genius is the genius of childhood. It gradually disappears as they get older. It is possible for such a child to become a real painter one day, perhaps even a great painter. But he would have to start right from the beginning. So far as I am concerned, I did not have that genius. My first drawings could never have been shown at an exhibition of children’s drawings. I lacked the clumsiness of a child, his naivety. I made academic drawings at the age of seven, the minute precision of which frightened me.” Picasso.

     In 1896 Pablo’s first large “academic’ oil painting, “The First Communion”, appeared in an exhibition in Barcelona. His second large oil painting, “Science and Charity” (1897) received honorable mention in the national exhibition of fine art in Madrid and was awarded a gold medal in a competition at Málaga. Pablo’s uncle sent him money for further studying in Madrid, and the youth passed entrance examination for advanced courses at the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. But already in the winter he abandoned the classes. His everyday visits to the Prado seemed to him much more important. At first he copied the old masters, trying to imitate their style; later they would be the source of ideas for original paintings of his own, and he would re-arrange them again and again in different variations.

     Picasso’s time in Madrid, however, came to a sudden end. In summer 1898, caught with scarlet fever, he came back to Barcelona, then, to regain health, he went to the mountain village of Horta de Ebro and spent long time there to return home only in spring 1899.

     In October 1900 Picasso and Casagemas left for Paris, the most significant artistic center at the time, and opened studio at the Montmartre. Art dealer Pedro Manach offered Picasso his first contract: 150 Francs per month in exchange for pictures. His first Paris picture “Le Moulin de la Galette” (Guggenheim Museum, New York).  In December he departed for Barcelona, Málaga, and Madrid where he became co-editor of Arte Joven. But already in May 1901 he returned to Paris. This restless life with constant travels  continued all his life, though  later he would become more or less settled, but never finally settled.
 

Pablo Picasso Oil Paintings Reproductions:

Arlequin au cafe 70cm x 50cm (28" x 20") $229
Colombe avec fleurs 60cm x 80cm (24" x 32") $249
Femme au beret rouge 80cm x 60cm (32" x 24") $249
Hand with Bouquet 90cm x 60cm (36" x 24") $259
The Muse 60cm x 75cm (24" x 30") $249
The Red Armchair 80cm x 60cm (32" x 24") $249
Two Women Running 60cm x 80cm (24" x 32") $249
The Old Guitar Player, 1903 55cm x 70cm (22" x 28") $229
Blue Nude, 1902 55cm x 70cm (22" x 28") $229
Don Quixote 59cm x 74cm (23" x 29") $239
Femme 70cm x 55cm (28" x 22") $229
Three Musicians 70cm x 55cm (28" x 22") $229
Primera comunión 60cm x 87cm (24" x 34") $259 - Museo Picasso
Autorretrato con pelo despeinado 50cm x 74cm (20" x 29") $229 - Museo Picasso
Woman with a Cigarette 50cm x 73cm (20" x 29") $229 - The Barnes Foundation
The Family of Saltimbanques 75cm x 70cm (30" x 28") $259 - National Gallery of Art
Portrait of Gertrude Stein 65cm x 80cm (26" x 32") $259 - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Self Portrait 55cm x 70cm (22" x 28") $229 - National Gallery
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 80cm x 83cm (32" x 33") $289 - Museum of Modern Art
Portrait of Kahnweiler 70cm x 98cm (28" x 39") $289 - Art Institute of Chicago
The Pipes of Pan 71cm x 88cm (28" x 35") $279 - Musée Picasso
Paul as Harlequin 65cm x 90cm (26" x 35") $269 - Musée Picasso
Self Portrait 60cm x 85cm (24" x 33") $259 - Museo Picasso
Self Portrait: Yo Picasso 65cm x 79cm (26" x 31") $259 - Private Collection
La Vie (Life) 55cm x 89cm (22" x 35") $249 - Cleveland Museum of Art
The Tragedy 55cm x 85cm (22" x 33") $249 - National Gallery of Art
Woman with a Crow 55cm x 75cm (22" x 30") $239 - Toledo Museum of Art
Tumblers (Mother and Son) 55cm x 74cm (22" x 29") $239 - Staatsgalerie
La Toilette 60cm x 93cm (24" x 37") $269 - Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Guitar 60cm x 82cm (24" x 32") $249
The Lovers 65cm x 85cm (26" x 33") $269 - National Gallery of Art
Studio with Plaster Head 95cm x 70cm (37" x 28") $289
Woman with a Flower 70cm x 90cm (28" x 35") $279 - Galerie Beyeler
Nude Woman in a Red Armchair 70cm x 97cm (28" x 38") $289 - Tate Gallery
The Dream 70cm x 96cm (28" x 38") $289 - Private Collection
Interior with a Girl Drawing 97cm x 65cm (38" x 26") $279
Portrait of Dora Maar 55cm x 80cm (22" x 32") $239 - Musée Picasso
Weeping Woman 60cm x 73cm (24" x 29") $239 - Tate Gallery
Girl with a Boat (Maya Picasso) 55cm x 75cm (22" x 30") $239 - Rosengart Collection
Jacqueline in the Studio 91cm x 70cm (36" x 28") $279
Bust of a Woman with a Hat 60cm x 73cm (24" x 29") $239 - Private Collection



 

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