Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973)was born Pablo Ruiz Picasso on October 25, 1881, in Málaga, Spain. He was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and stage designer Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973) considered one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century and the co-creator, along with Georges Braque, of Cubism.
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973)was born Pablo Ruiz Picasso on October 25, 1881, in Málaga, Spain. He was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and stage designer Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973) considered one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century and the co-creator, along with Georges Braque, of Cubism. Considered radical in his work, Picasso continues to garner reverence for his technical mastery, visionary creativity and profound empathy. Together, these qualities have distinguished the "disquieting" Spaniard with the "sombrepiercing" eyes as a revolutionary artist. For nearly 80 of his 91 years, Picasso devoted himself to an artistic production that he superstitiously believed would keep him alive, contributing significantly to — and paralleling the entire development of — modern art in the 20th century.
Pablo Picasso remains renowned for endlessly reinventing himself, switching between styles so radically different that his life's work seems to be the product of five or six great artists rather than just one. Of his penchant for style diversity, Picasso insisted that his varied work was not indicative of radical shifts throughout his career, but, rather, of his dedication to objectively evaluating for each piece the form and technique best suited to achieve his desired effect. "Whenever I wanted to say something, I said it the way I believed I should," he explained. "Different themes inevitably require different methods of expression. This does not imply either evolution or progress; it is a matter of following the idea one wants to express and the way in which one wants to express it."
Cubism was an artistic style pioneered by Pablo Picasso and his friend and fellow painter, Georges Braque. In Cubist paintings, objects are broken apart and reassembled in an abstracted form, highlighting their composite geometric shapes and depicting them from multiple, simultaneous viewpoints in order to create physics-defying, collage-like effects. At once destructive and creative, Cubism shocked, appalled and fascinated the art world.
Pablo Picasso died on April 8, 1973, at the age of 91, in Mougins, France.
