Pablo Picasso ( * 1881 † 1973 )

Pablo Picasso was born on October 25, 1881, in Málaga as Pablo (full name: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz).

At the age of twelve, he began painting under the guidance of his father, an art professor. Initially, he signed his paintings with the name Pablo Ruiz, later adopting Pablo Picasso, which was his mother's maiden name, and started winning medals with his paintings in Madrid and Málaga from 1897 onwards. 

Picasso attended the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, which he left shortly after as he disapproved of the teaching methods there. In 1901, Picasso began his "Blue Period" and had his first exhibition in Paris. Three years later, he moved to the French capital, where he met, among others, the writer Apollinaire, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship; during this time in Paris, Picasso's "Blue Period" was succeeded by the "Rose Period."

In 1907, the artist met Georges Braque and began painting innovative works with cubist features. The first painting in this style by Picasso was "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon." In the following years, he worked closely with Braque and Derain; numerous exhibitions took place in Europe and the USA, and Picasso developed "synthetic cubism," working with large, flat, symbolic forms. In 1925, he participated in the first group exhibition of surrealist painters in Paris, but did not maintain this contact further.

During the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Picasso supported the Republicans against Franco and was later appointed as the director of the Prado in Madrid out of gratitude. After spending the years of World War II in Paris, he mostly resided in Vallauris from 1948 and passed away on April 8, 1973, in his villa in Mougins near Cannes.

Throughout his long life, Picasso underwent an extraordinary transformation of stylistic epochs and significantly influenced them. He became the epitome of the "modern artist," and his works are among the most valuable and popular alongside those of van Gogh.

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