Pablo+Picasso

By: Sara Armstrong 
 * __Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)[[image:pablo-picasso.jpg width="182" height="245" align="left" caption="Pablo Picasso"]] __**

Pablo Picasso was nothing short of a prodigy. As a boy of only 14, he was accepted into the Barcelona School of Fine Arts and skipped the first two classes. Many say that his father, recognizing his immense talent, gave up his brush and palate and vowed to never paint again. Picasso became one of the most prolific artists in history.

Picasso had many periods in his life where his art shifted styles and subjects. He began with the Blue Period lasting from about 1900 to 1904. Dark blues, purples, and blacks were his main color choices at this time and his subjects were poor, sorrowful, and often times starving townsfolk. An example of this melancholic style is //The Old Guitarist//, shown to the right. Next came his Rose Period which was a much happier time and lasted from 1905 to 1906. In the Rose Period, Picasso painted circus folk and used bright pinks, yellows, oranges, and reds. An example of a painting in the Rose Period is //The Girl with a// //Goat,// shown below. Cubism is of course the style that Picasso is most famous for. In the Cubist style, geometrical shapes are used to represent the subject. A newer form of Cubism called Synthetic Cubism was developed in which the subject is represented with geometric shapes from several angles in a single painting.

Pablo Picasso's most famous painting is Guernica, shown below. This mural is inspired by the bombing of @Guernica by the Nazis, which was ordered by the dictator of Spain, General Franco, on his own people as the epitome of his power. After completing this mural, Picasso refused to have it shown in Spain while Franco was still alive. His demand was met. The mural was displayed around the world until 1975, when Franco died, it was moved to Spain, where it still rests today.

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Sources: 1. []