Born in Malaga, Spain on October 25th, 1881, Pablo Picasso would grow to become the most influential artist of our time. His father, a drawing professor, sparked a passion for art in his son from an early age — so much so that by just 13, Picasso had already staged his first art exhibition. He eventually abandoned his formal studies to dedicate himself fully to modern art styles.

Paris first beckoned Picasso in 1900, and by 1901, he had secured an exhibition at a gallery along Paris' rue Lafitte, a street renowned for its prestigious galleries. Though the young artist was only 19 and still building his reputation beyond Barcelona, he had already produced hundreds of paintings that captured the admiration of countless art lovers.

Division of Picasso's creations:

Blue Period

Across an extraordinary 80 year career, Picasso produced more than 50,000 paintings, ceramics, sculptures, and drawings, with the various bodies of work described in overlapping times. Perhaps the most notable of these is the Blue Period, which coincides with his first exhibit in Paris. During this stretch, the artist predominantly worked in shades of blue as a way to reflect on the cry of the poor. One celebrated example is The Old Guitarist, which he created in 1903.

Rose Period

Following the Blue Period came the Rose Period, a phase characterized largely by depictions of circus scenes. Picasso's early sculpture creations also featured prominently during this time.

Picasso shattered the conventions of European art with his 1907 creation, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. This groundbreaking work presented distorted and fragmented human imagery that revealed the influence of Paul Cezanne and African mask art. Building on this radical departure, the artist went on to co-found the Cubist movement alongside French painter Georges Braque in 1909.

Cubism

Cubism represented the next major chapter in Picasso's artistic evolution, and it can be broken down into two branches: the synthetic and the analytical. Together, Picasso and Braque dismantled the ancient belief where artists always created art based on real-time events and phenomena. Among the most iconic works from this phase are the sets and costumes for Sergey Diaghilev's Ballets Russes of 1917 and The Three Musicians made in1921. Beyond these achievements, the two artists' experimentation led them to invent other modern-day art practices such as collage.

Classical and Mediterranean themes

After Cubism came the Classical and Mediterranean themes. During This period the artist increasingly pictured images of anguish and violence. This trajectory culminated in 1937 with Picasso's masterpiece, the famous Guernica. A monumental creation, it captured the pain and horror visited upon the Basque town of Guernica, attacked during the Spanish Civil War by German warplanes. Throughout the Nazi occupation, the artist remained in Paris. However, his opposition towards fascism lured him to join and didn't stand for fascism which drew the French Communist Party.

While Picasso's art is hardly studied after World War II, the artist pressed forward on his creative path with undisputed success, producing fantastical works. He also continued to experiment with ceramics painting variations of other artists' work. Right up until his death in 1973, Picasso was still producing art.