Monday, 21 March 2011

Pablo Picasso - A Great Artist

Discover art by possibly the most influential artist of the twentieth century, Pablo Picasso.
Born in Malaga, Spain, in 1881, Picasso lived until 1973, spending most of his life in France. He showed early promise in art and his father, a teacher, encouraged him, so that he studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Barcelona. His earlier artwork included the Blue Period, characterized by mainly blue palettes and the downtrodden lower strata of life, like prostitutes and beggars. There was also the Rose Period, which introduced a lighter, brighter painting, featuring clowns, harlequins and other circus people, known as saltimbanques.
Around 1906-1907, Picasso was influenced by Cezanne and ancient African sculptures and also started to collaborate with Braque. This resulted in the birth of Cubism and the painting of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. This highly fragmented and contorted method, with its powerful geometry, marked a fundamental change in the way art was produced and shocked many in the art world and the public, so much so, that the aforementioned painting wasn't widely shown until a few years later. However, Cubism became a dominant force in twentieth century art, with many artists adopting the style and Picasso becoming a little weary of seeing guitar paintings!
Picasso did embrace other styles including Classical and even Surrealism, and in 1937 he painted another masterpiece that was to shock many. Guernica was Picasso's brutal depiction of human suffering, following the bombing of the Basque town by that name, by the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. The painting is an attack on war generally and also reveals Picasso's interest in humanity, which can be found in much of his work.
Later in life, Picasso continued to produce paintings and also create sculptures, ceramics and graphic arts, not to mention stage sets. These are all areas that he had been involved in for much of his career. He also embraced the works of other great artists by creating variations of artwork by Velazquez and Delacroix amongst others.
Pablo Picasso was an immensely significant artist, especially for modern art. His artwork still promotes some controversy and he is probably best remembered for Cubism and Guernica. He was highly popular and famous during his own lifetime and produced around 20,000 works which has necessitated the use of groups into which his art has been divided by the critics. His many paintings, apart from those mentioned, include La Femme en Chemise, Nude, Mediterranean Landscape and Blue Nude.
You can find these pictures and more art by Pablo Picasso, by visiting art galleries and researching online.
http://buyartworkonline.net is a unique website set up by David J Pope in order to showcase and promote his own art and also that of other artists. Now that you are inspired, aim for the best in life and buy artwork online.

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