Picasso: The Periods of this Famous Painter’s Work
What do you think is the purpose of art? Is it to create with childlike abandonment and wonder? Or, harness the emotions and perceptions of an individual? Or, record an important moment in history? One such painter, Pablo Picasso, found purpose and meaning in all three. In today’s blog, we’re diving into his history and his thoughts on art. Additionally, we’ll explore the many movements and periods of arts which led him to be one of the best known artists of the 20th century.
Who Is Picasso?
Pablo Ruiz Picasso, born in 1881, was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and theatre designer. He is known for the:
- Co-founding the Cubist moment
- Invention of constructed sculpture
- Co-invention of collage
- Variety of styles he helped develop and explore
Early Life
Born in Málaga in Southern Spain, Pablo’s family came from a middle-class background. His father, Don José Ruiz, was also a painter and specialised in naturalistic depictions of birds. What’s more, he was a professor of art at the School of Crafts and a curator of a local museum.
Picasso showed a passion and skill for drawing at any early age. In fact, according to his mother, his first words were “piz, piz”: the shorting of the Spanish word lápiz for “pencil”. From the age of 7, his father gave Pablo formal training in figure drawing and oil painting. Ruiz believed that proper training required disciplined copying of the masters alongside drawing the human body from plaster casts and live models.
At only 13 years old, the young painter found himself accepted at the School of Fine Arts, in Barcelona.
His Thoughts on Art
Check out Picasso’s thoughts on art — we’ll see how his work reflects this ideology when we explore his various periods and movements.
- “Everything you can imagine is real.”
- “Every child is an artists. The problem is how to remain and artists once he grows up.”
- “Art is the lie that enables us to realise the truth.”
- “Other have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.”
- “Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness.”
- “The chief enemy of creativity is good sense”
- “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
His Movements and Periods
Although some dates and definitions are highly debated, we present to you the various styles, movements and periods of Picasso’s art.
- Modern Period (1899-1900). His realism began to show a Symbolist influence. For example, landscape paintings sported non-naturalistic violet and green tones.
- Blue Period (1901-1904). Characterised by sombre paintings rendered in shades of blue and blue-green. Influenced by a trip through Spain.
- Rose Period (1904-1906). Transitioned to a light tone and style utilising orange and pink. Picasso’s work featured many circus people including acrobats and harlequins. The latter of which appears in his work as a motif.
- African Art and Primitivism (1907-1909). Inspired by African artefacts viewed in the ethnographic museum at Palais du Trocadéro. The universal reactions was shock, revulsion, and the belief it was a hoax.
- Analytic Cubism (1909- 1912). Developed with Georges Braque using monochrome brownish and neutral colours. Both artists took apart objects and “analysed” them in terms of their shapes.
More Movements and Periods
- Synthetic Cubism (1912-1919). A further development of Cubism. Cut paper fragments pasted into compositions — the first use of collage in fine art. Later influenced by the outbreak of the First World War.
- Neoclassicism and Surrealism (1919-1929). Following his trip to Italy, Picasso joined other artists in the New Objectivity movement. The fusion of this and his other works resulted in a journey into surrealism.
- The Spanish Civil War (1930-1939). The minotaur replaces the harlequin as a common motif. It is in this period he paints his most famous work — Guernica. It depicts the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Thus it embodies for many the inhumanity, brutality and hopelessness of war.
- War War II and Late 40s (1939-1949). Picasso remained in German-occupied Paris. Because his art style did not fit Nazi sensibilities, he did not exhibit during this time. During this time, the painter wrote poetry as an alternative outlet.
- Later Works to Final Years (1949-1973). The artist’s style changed once more — he took to producing reinterpretations of the art of great masters. Additionally, during this period he created the Chicago Picasso statue which is still in the city to this day. His final works were a mixture of styles, colours, and expression.
He died in 1973 in France.
A note: Picasso was a known misogynist, often viewing woman only as muses and for pleasure. Ultimately, he definitely raises the question: “Can we separate the artists from the art?”
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