Pablo Picasso

It is hard to follow the thinking of a 20th-century artist who so rightly earned the label “genius” as Picasso. Over an unparalleled career spanning 78 years he made paintings, drawings, etchings, prints, sculptures and ceramics, constantly seeking new challenges, exciting tasks and inspiration. Picasso was born in 1881 in the southern Spanish city of Málaga. He was a true child prodigy; by the age of 13 his works were already of a professionally perfect standard. After leaving his traditional art school in Madrid — to the dismay of his artist father — he lived alternately in Barcelona and Paris and developed his own style. From the Blue and Rose Periods, through African-inspired art and epoch-making Cubism, to Neoclassicism and avant-garde Surrealism, Picasso’s creativity was inexhaustible, ceaselessly taking on new forms. On one occasion he declared: “We can never say, ‘We have done good work, tomorrow is Sunday.’ As soon as we stop, we have to start again… We never come to the end.”

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When Picasso settled in Paris in 1904, he struggled to find his place in the world. The following year, however, he met and befriended a wealthy American expatriate, the writer and philosopher Gertrude Stein (pictured), who introduced Picasso to Matisse and later bought many pictures from both artists. Between 1904 and 1913 Stein built up an impressive collection of avant-garde works in her Paris home and held informal gatherings in her apartment every week. Picasso and Matisse were regular visitors alongside celebrities such as Hemingway, Apollinaire and Cocteau; at these meetings the artists engaged in lively exchanges of ideas. Stein was an enormous help to Picasso in establishing his career.

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