Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso. The greatest artist of the 20th century, maybe of all time. He was a hero in many ways. He wasn't afraid to try new art styles. He had courage to contintue with his art even when it was called stupid or bad. He made many pictures and changed the way art will be looked at forever. He is a hero in many more ways, too.

Picasso was born on Oct. 25, 1881. He was the son of an art professor, who taught art at the Barcelona School of Art. His drawing talent was amazing, even at an early age. He was able to pass the Barcelona art exam in a day, while it took most other students a month. He tested all the popular styles of art in his age, which showed his great ability to take bits and pieces from other art styles, even when he was young. After leaving Barcelona to go to the Madrid academy, he got dissatsifed with his traning and went back to Barcelona. From there, he moved to France, where he started painting French cafes, friends, and other things.

After his friends suiside, Picasso started his blue period, in which he showed humans as outcasts, and used all blue. He never showed time or space in these paintings. And no one knew why he chose blue. After getting over the blue period, Picasso started the rose period, in which he still showed people as outcasts, but painted in lighter reds. This was also the first appearance of the clowns which later inhabit almost all of Picasso's paintings.

In 1906, Picasso started his most famous style, Cubism. In this stage, he showed space using geometric shapes, like circles and squares. He made 2 more types of Cubism, called Analytical Cubism and Synthetic Cubism. In Analytical Cubism, Picasso showed a lot of viewpoints at the same time. In Synthetic Cubism, Picasso took Cubism to a conclusion by putting oilcloth on the paintings to make it look like a real world. This style was know as the best style of Cubism to date.

In the last 20 years of Picasso’s life, Picasso made a lot of work. His paintings not only had the month and day, but by Roman Numerals, showing he had made multiple pictures in a day. While people disregarded this period, he made some of his greatest works in this time, but critics still say he was creatively lazy at this time. Finally, on April 8, 1973, Picasso died from a pulminary condition in Antibes, France. His final words were “Drink to me.”