On October 25 the world celebrates 133 years since the birth of Pablo Picasso – a Spanish painter, ceramicist, sculptor and stage designer, and ultimately a genius, whose fascinating mastery generated a new epoch in the global history of art.
In 1900 Pablo Picasso was astonished by the works of Impressionists he and another artist Carlos Casagemas saw at world’s fair in Paris. The death of Carlos, Picasso’s close friend, left a mournful imprint on his early work known as the Blue Period. His work at this time is awash with lugubrious scenes of human misery depicted in dark blue and green shades. The pale and elongated bodies of Picasso’s blind men and beggars evoke the style of Renaissance painter El Greco.
Above: “Absinthe Drinker” (1901) is very characteristic of the Blue Period, as it vivifies a woman immersed in melancholic dreams drowsed by absinthe – a fetish of those times.
Above: “Absinthe Drinker” (1901) is very characteristic of the Blue Period, as it vivifies a woman immersed in melancholic dreams drowsed by absinthe – a fetish of those times.
It took years for Picasso to reconcile his loss. After his grief alleviated, Picasso felt better and embarked upon a new style, now referred to as his Rose Period. The name derived from the lightsome, cheerful and optimistic paintings dominated by golden rose and grey rose colors. Picasso found inspiration in circus performances and focused on painting clowns, acrobats and dancers.
Above: “Girl on the Ball” painted in 1905 is regarded as the transition work from the Blue to the Rose Period.
Above: “Girl on the Ball” painted in 1905 is regarded as the transition work from the Blue to the Rose Period.
In his Cubist works, Picasso extended and broke the volume of objects, sliced them into planes and faces extending into space. He made the perspective projection disappear, limited the palette to monochromes, tried to make his pictures emanate the sense of weight, and encoded secret messages into them. To obtain a touch with reality, Picasso filled his pictures with match boxes, wine bottles, phone numbers, pipes and other elements of everyday life.
Above: “Guitar and Violin”, a bright example of analytical Cubism. 1913.
Above: “Guitar and Violin”, a bright example of analytical Cubism. 1913.
In 1944 Picasso joined the French Communist party. Five years later he drew “The Dove of Peace” which helped popularize the global symbol. “I stand for life against death; I stand for peace against war,” the humanist painter said.
