Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973) started to paint when he was eight years old. Like many children he would make drawings, but these were very different to today's children's drawings. According to psychology studies, by nature its not a child's intention to accurately depict a natural object and today children are left to draw freely. When Picasso was young, children would be expected to try to draw as closely to nature as possible, just like mature artists would draw and paint, in the age preceding abstract art. From the age of five on, Pablo would get drawing lessons at school, in Malaga. Children were taught to make drawings based on simple geometric forms, to which more detail was added until an accurate image of the subject resulted. This highly systematic approach to art would develop Picasso's remarkable sense of space and geometry and lay a foundation for the ease with which he would later be able to characterize an object with a single line.
His Education:
As Picasso's father was an art teacher, he would take full control of Pablo's education in art. He gave him lessons and sent him to schools where he was working as a teacher himself. As such, Picasso's father was ubiquitous in Pablo's life, both at home and in school. Remarkably, in his first two major paintings, The First Communion (1896) and Science and Charity (1897), Pablo includes the (rather uninspired) portrait of his father. As an artist, Pablo's father would specialize in painting animals, the least valued genre in his time. The most valued genres were history pieces (paintings that would depict scenes from popular history), as well as portraitism and under the influence of his father, Pablo Picasso would concentrate on these subjects. Pablo's father would even use his influence with local newspapers to promote his son's work, as well as with jury members of art contests, in which Pablo participated.
In 1891 Picasso's father got a new job at the art school Instituto da Guarda in La Coruna, to where the family moved and in 1892 Pablo joined his father at the Instituto da Guarda as a student. For three years Pablo would enjoy a classical art education which started with the copying of basic forms. The use of geometric forms was used to create a simplified form of the natural object and by using that basis, more detail was added in several highly systematic stages. In 1895 his father was appointed at the art academy La Lonja in Barcelona, where again he was joined by Pablo. Picasso's father promoted Pablo's independence by renting him a studio in Barcelona. With the financial aid of his uncles, Pablo goes to study in Madrid at the end of 1897. In La Coruna and Malaga Pablo had already received a thorough education and because Madrid had nothing new to offer him, he decided to quit mid-1898.
His Family:
Pablo Picasso's father, Don José, descended from an old, wealthy family from the provence Léon (North-West of Spain) and his mother, Doña Maria was from Andalusia and of Arabic descent. Pablo had two younger sisters: Dolorès, or Lola (1884 - 1958) and Concepción (1887 - 1891), called Conchita, the latter died at the age of four. Pablo would begin to sign his artworks with Pablo Ruiz (after his father), but from 1900 on he would use his mother's last name: Picasso. As the myth goes, Don José was so impressed with the ability of the young Pablo that in 1894 he gave his painting gear to Pablo and would never paint again himself. The myth is so persistent that it's wearth mentioning, but actually Don José would continue to paint until his death. Picasso's relationship with his parents became strained when he quit his studies, and neither would they forgive him for walking over the avant-garde camp.
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His life:
Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973) started to paint when he was eight years old. Like many children he would make drawings, but these were very different to today's children's drawings. According to psychology studies, by nature its not a child's intention to accurately depict a natural object and today children are left to draw freely. When Picasso was young, children would be expected to try to draw as closely to nature as possible, just like mature artists would draw and paint, in the age preceding abstract art. From the age of five on, Pablo would get drawing lessons at school, in Malaga. Children were taught to make drawings based on simple geometric forms, to which more detail was added until an accurate image of the subject resulted. This highly systematic approach to art would develop Picasso's remarkable sense of space and geometry and lay a foundation for the ease with which he would later be able to characterize an object with a single line.His Education:
As Picasso's father was an art teacher, he would take full control of Pablo's education in art. He gave him lessons and sent him to schools where he was working as a teacher himself. As such, Picasso's father was ubiquitous in Pablo's life, both at home and in school. Remarkably, in his first two major paintings, The First Communion (1896) and Science and Charity (1897), Pablo includes the (rather uninspired) portrait of his father.As an artist, Pablo's father would specialize in painting animals, the least valued genre in his time. The most valued genres were history pieces (paintings that would depict scenes from popular history), as well as portraitism and under the influence of his father, Pablo Picasso would concentrate on these subjects. Pablo's father would even use his influence with local newspapers to promote his son's work, as well as with jury members of art contests, in which Pablo participated.
In 1891 Picasso's father got a new job at the art school Instituto da Guarda in La Coruna, to where the family moved and in 1892 Pablo joined his father at the Instituto da Guarda as a student. For three years Pablo would enjoy a classical art education which started with the copying of basic forms. The use of geometric forms was used to create a simplified form of the natural object and by using that basis, more detail was added in several highly systematic stages.
In 1895 his father was appointed at the art academy La Lonja in Barcelona, where again he was joined by Pablo. Picasso's father promoted Pablo's independence by renting him a studio in Barcelona.
With the financial aid of his uncles, Pablo goes to study in Madrid at the end of 1897. In La Coruna and Malaga Pablo had already received a thorough education and because Madrid had nothing new to offer him, he decided to quit mid-1898.
His Family:
Pablo Picasso's father, Don José, descended from an old, wealthy family from the provence Léon (North-West of Spain) and his mother, Doña Maria was from Andalusia and of Arabic descent. Pablo had two younger sisters: Dolorès, or Lola (1884 - 1958) and Concepción (1887 - 1891), called Conchita, the latter died at the age of four. Pablo would begin to sign his artworks with Pablo Ruiz (after his father), but from 1900 on he would use his mother's last name: Picasso.As the myth goes, Don José was so impressed with the ability of the young Pablo that in 1894 he gave his painting gear to Pablo and would never paint again himself. The myth is so persistent that it's wearth mentioning, but actually Don José would continue to paint until his death.
Picasso's relationship with his parents became strained when he quit his studies, and neither would they forgive him for walking over the avant-garde camp.