Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born on October 25,1881 to Maria Picasso Lopez and Jose Ruiz Blasco, an artist and teacher at San Telmo school of arts and industrial design.
Pablo became an artist under his father's guidance. When his father was appointed to the La Lonja academy, his family moved to Barcelona. He was admitted to the drawing class at La Lonja after passing examination with flying colors.
Pablo became a member of bohemian group in Barcelona in 1897; his first exhibition was in the Cafe Els Quatre Gats, the group's headquarters; followed by the first review of his work in La Vanguardia. After befriending artists and intellectuals like Jamie Sabartes, they introduced him to modern currents in painting. His painting Ciencia y Caridad awarded Honorable Mention in Madrid. He was then admitted to painting class at the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. In 1898 he left the academy, but his painting Costumbres de Aragon won medals in Madrid and Malaga. Drawings and sketched were published in many locations over the next few years.
In 1903 his work was featured at an exhibition of pastels at the Salon Pares,, where he met Max Jacob and Gustave Coquiot. This marked the beginning of Blue Period where he began signing his works "Picasso" instead of "Pablo Ruiz y Picasso." In 1904, he settled in Paris; marking the end of the Blue Period.
The following year was the beginning of the Rose Period, when he created his earliest sculptures and engravings. In 1906 he met Matisse, who with the Fauves shocked the public at the Salon d'Automne the year before. After a summer in northern Spain with Fernande Olivier, he transitioned to a sculptural style.
The same year, D.H. Kahnweiler opened a gallery and became Picasso's dealer and close friend. Picasso then met Braque and Derain and visited the Cezanna exhibition in the Salon d'Automne. This was the beginning of Cubism with Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.
In the summer of 1909, he and Fernande Olivier created the first clearly Cubist landscapes. 1911 was his first exhibition in the U.S. (NYC). 1912 was his first exhibition in England and the year of his first collages. The next year was the death of his father and the beginning of Synthetic Cubism.
In 1918 he married Olga Koklova. Three years later, Olga gave birth to Paul, followed by numerous mother and son paintings.
In 1925 he took part in first Surrealist exhibition, producing his first works of unleashed violence.1928 provided a series of small, strongly colored paintings, with boldy simplified forms. He also began a new period of sculptural works.
In 1932 retrospective exhibitions were held in Paris. A new model, Marie-Therese Walter, made her apperance in Picasso's paintings and in 1933 he seperated from Olga. His daughter Maia was born to Marie-Therese Walter; living at Boisegeloup where he composed a number of poems.
1936 marked the outbreak of Spanish Civil War; Picasso led a traveling exhibition in Spain. In 1939 he moved back to Paris after his mother died, coupled with the outbreak of WWII. After the Liberation of Paris, he joined the Communist Party.
Picasso's son Claude was born in 1947, followed by the birth of his daughter Paloma in 1949, the same year of his first exhibition of work since the war. Picasso's Dove became universal for Peace.
In 1953 he separated from Francoise Gilot.
In 1958 he painted the Mural for UNESCO building.In 1971 his 90th birthday was commemorated with exhibition in Grande Galerie of the Louvre; making him the first living artist so honored. On April 8th he died at his villa in Mougins, followed by his first posthumous exhibition at Palace of the Popes.
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