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October 25 – Happy Birthday, Pablo Picasso

October 25, 2021

Posted on October 25, 2021

This is an update of my post published on October 25, 2010:

Born on this day in 1881, the famous Spanish artist we celebrate today was christened Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.

I cannot figure out why we don’t use his whole name when referring to him!

Considered a revolutionary artist, Picasso co-founded the Cubist movement but painted and drew in many styles over the course of his life.

These self-portraits were painted by Picasso at ages
18 (left), 25 (middle), and 90 (right).

Above, an early portrait by Picasso.
Below, a later Picasso portrait.

Picasso grew up and studied art in Spain, but he moved to Paris, which was then the art capital of the world, in 1900. While there Picasso lived in so much poverty, he had to burn much of his art just to stay warm! By 1901 Picasso moved back to Madrid, Spain, and luckily he found patrons who believed in him and bought his art: American writer Gertrude Stein and her husband and brother.

It is thought that Picasso made around 50,000 (!!!) artworks in his long (91 year) life. That includes paintings and drawings, of course, but also sculptures and ceramics and prints. He is thought to have painted more than 1,800 paintings.

Look at this very short YouTube video of Picasso painting. Notice how free his brush strokes are as he sketches the figures he will paint….
Here is a video showing soooo many different artworks created by Picasso. You can see that, at the beginning of his art career, Picasso proved he could draw and paint things in the style of realism. But he went on to play with perspective and proportion and and and…
One thing Picasso is famous for is being able to abstract the most important features of a creature or object. This series of bulls shows you that (1) he could draw and paint in a realistic way, but also that (2) you can recognize a Picasso-drawn bull AS a bull even if it is highly abstract.

For another taste of Picasso, check out this short time-lapse video. Notice that the artist sometimes added shading and color and details that dramatically changed the look and feel of his original drawing.

Try your hand at adding more and more details to a drawing or painting, just as Picasso did. Check out this time-lapse “doodle” for inspiration.