Pablo was on born on 25 October 1881 in Spain to a painter who specialized in the painting of birds and other animals. His father was also a professor of arts which allowed Picasso to attend famous painting schools such as the Barcelona School of Fine Arts, his father also trained him early in life with the painting skills that he had. He would grow up to be a famous painter, sculptor, stage designer, ceramist and print designer who pioneered many painting styles such as cubism. He spent most of his life in Paris and Spain.
- How women affected his quest for art.
In the life of Picasso there were dozens of women, some who he married, others were his mistresses and with others he just had affairs. Each of the women he had lengthy affairs with had an effect on his art. They are as follows;
The first woman was Fernande Olivier, who influenced his art to move from the rose period to the Rose period which was characterized by cheerful and lively colors such as orange and pink to a style that was more Mediterranean which was mainly found in France. She was the subject of his famous 20th Century painting Demoiselles d'Avignon which was done using the style of cubism.
Next he married a Russian ballet dancer Olga Khokhlova in 1915 with who he had his first child Pablo. His marriage to her coincided with a change in his artistic style from abstract art to conservative neo classism, he painted portraits of her which were restrained and serene.
He had an affair with a 17 year old girl known as Marie-Thérèse Walter and during this relationship he painted idyllic erotic pictures which depicted her guiltless and carefree nature. This affair coincided with another affair, this time with Dora Maar who he met in a café. Being a photographer Dora made photographic records of Picasso’s famous painting Guernica and her features appear in the head that swoops into the painting. Other paintings of her are disturbingly disfigured perhaps as an indicator of her falling apart emotionally.
Maar was dumped in favor of the much younger Françoise Gilot with who Picasso had 2 children, her Image was captured in a series of radiant etchings but after 9 years of marriage she left him willingly, mainly due to his infidelities and cruelty.
The last of the many relationships that Picasso had was with Jacqueline Roque, who he married after the death of his first wife Olga. There are more than 400 portraits of her that Picasso did portraying her demure nature.
- Picasso’s style and how women affected it
The blue period was characterized by blue shadings, grey and white colors. The paintings were mainly of beggars, prostitutes and sad people which may have been caused by the suicide of his friend.
The rose period was between 1904 and 1905; the paintings were done in the cheery, warm and lively colors of pink and red and featured circus performers. This is attributed to his relationship with Fernandes Olivier who is considered as his first love who made him very happy.
The next style that he invented is cubism, which is thought to have been influenced by African art. There was analytical cubism which focused on straight lines and angles and there was also synthetic cubism which used collages, stencils and bright colors. He painted the Demoiselles d'Avignon which is also based on Olivier as a muse.
Next came the classical period which was characterized by classical themes such as bathers and women and which was influenced by his first wife Olga who was a classy high society woman.
Cubism and surrealism came next and he painted pictures of a peaceful sleeping woman, who was thought to be Marie Therese, the paintings had structured geometric shapes and the colors were mainly primary; red, blue and yellow. The surrealistic painting The Weeping woman featured his next mistress Dora Maar.
The Guernica was next and it featured the effects of the Spanish Civil War, this painting depicted the suffering that is caused by war as there are images of a woman holding her dead child, a wounded horse and a bull.
During world war 11 he did paintings that showed the suffering of people such as The Charnel House which showed a heap of mangled bodies, his mood was somber and death was the main subject of his paintings.
During this time he met Françoise Gilot who bore him two children he did many paintings on her but he used earlier styles. His last companion was Jacqueline Roque who he married and did over 400 paintings of her also using previous styles.
In my opinion, Pablo was an extraordinary artist who pioneered many styles of painting and sculpting and made a huge contribution to the development of art. The same cannot be said about his private life as Jacqueline shot herself after his death and Marie hanged herself while Dora had a nervous breakdown, he was described as a cruel, mean and misogynistic man. I agree with the sentiments of Dora when she told him ‘As an artist you may be extraordinary, but morally speaking you are worthless.’
REFERENCES
Hudson, Mark. “Pablo Picasso's love affair with women.” The Telegraph. Web. 13 February 2009.
Fox, Andrew. Picasso: “The Women Behind the Artist.” De Young. Fine Arts Museum of San Fransisco.Web.20 July 2011
McAvera, Brian. “Picasso, Sculpture, and Picasso’s Women International Sculpture Center.” Web. Pablo Picasso Biography. Picassoart.com
Renshaw, Amanda. “Mistresses of the masterpieces: The muses behind Pablo Picasso's iconic paintings.” The Telegraph. Web.19 November 2011
Venning, Anabell. “How Picasso who called all women goddesses or doormats drove his lovers to despair and even suicide with his cruelty and betrayal.” Mail Online.Web. 7 March 2012.
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