Ever heard of the craziness that was cubism, in the early 1900s? Cubism is the art of painting in geometrical shapes. It was created around 1907 or 1908 by none other than Pablo Picasso himself. But if you’re not much informed in the history of arts and artists, you may not know the full story of this revolutionary artist, although not so great of a person.

Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain in 1881, he was an artist for most of his life, until his death in 1973. Although he is mostly known for his cubism painting, he has gone through many art styles throughout his career. Between 1901 and 1904, he was mostly painting with cold blue colours, which showed a lot of melancholy, also known as the “blue period”.

While reading on the subject, I came to the realization that one of Picasso’s very close friends had passed away due to suicide in 1901. I can only imagine the sheer heart wrenching pain that must cause to a person. Knowing he fell into a depression after this event, I believe the death of this friend could have inspired him in his art, therefore creating sadder looking paintings.

Starting in 1904, his style changed. Up until 1906, he used warmer tones, using more varieties of colours and walking away from the more monochromatic look. The feel of his pieces also changed. I could be wrong, but I believe as his mental health was improving, it was showing in his paintings.

From then on, his art style changed again, and I believe it was the first step into his well known technique, cubism. Picasso started inspiring himself from African art, and moved to a more geometric art style. He then deepened his sense of style and inspired himself from another European artist, Paul Cézanne. That was the true beginning of cubism.

Something, that I believe not many people know, is that Picasso wasn’t always just a painter. In fact, it seems like the first words he ever said probably predicted the beginning of his entire career. The first word he ever spoke was “lapiz” which means pencil in his first language, spanish. Although it might have been influenced by the fact that his father was an artist as well, I think it is a funny correlation, considering that as well as being a painter, he also dedicated his talent to drawing.

Picasso was a very versatile artist and had multiple talents. His creations varied from drawing to painting to even sculptures. From age 11, up until his death, he was a dedicated artist. During his life he created probably over 50 000 pieces of art, which never cease to amaze me. This man worked all his life for his passion and didn’t let anything stop him, which led him to produce so many compositions.

Having briefly studied arts in college a few years ago, I find that Pablo Picasso is a very talented artist, although he was known to be quite a terrible man, in the way he treated women. But like I once heard, you can love the art without loving the artist themselves, so I think his art is still worth checking out.

Sources:

https://news.masterworksfineart.com/2019/11/28/what-was-picassos-inspiration

https://parispass.com/en-us/blog/facts-about-picasso

I’m Chloé (with an accent on the e), I’m a 24 year-old who lives in Québec so my first language isn’t English, apologies it sometimes gets chaotic. I’m very passionate about anything art or literature related. I love reading, painting, but most of all, I love writing. I write everyday, and my biggest dream is to have my own bilingual publishing house with my best friend and publish a multitude of books both in French and in English.