Pablo Picasso Spanish, 1881-1973

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, whose extraordinary and prolific career transformed the course of modern and contemporary art. Born in Málaga, Spain, he studied in Madrid and Barcelona before moving to Paris in 1904, where he became part of the international avant-garde. His early career encompassed the melancholy Blue Period and the more vibrant Rose Period, followed by the revolutionary Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), which heralded the development of Cubism with Georges Braque. Picasso continually reinvented his visual language, moving between Cubism, Neoclassicism, Surrealism and Expressionism while working across painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics and theatre design. His response to the Spanish Civil War produced Guernica (1937), one of the most powerful anti-war paintings of the twentieth century. Settling in the south of France after the Second World War, he remained remarkably productive into his final years, drawing on mythology, personal experience and the human figure. His vast body of work and continual experimentation established a legacy of unparalleled influence that continues to shape contemporary art.