Biography of Pablo Picasso

Born Pablo Ruiz y Picasso on October 25, 1881, in Málaga, Spain. Picasso is considered to be one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. While he showed great artistic promise growing up, Picasso really began to thrive creatively once he moved to Paris in the early 1900s. There he was exposed to works of other artists and developed friendships with some of them, including Georges Braque.

With a career that spanned more than seven decades, Picasso's work is often categorized into different periods and associated with a number of artistic movements. His early days in Paris coincide with his Blue period, named for the predominant use of that color in his work and his general mood at that time. This was followed by his Rose period and a brief dabbling in work inspired by primitive art. It was Cubism—the style in which the artist breaks down his or her subjects into geometric shapes—that put Picasso in the spotlight. One of his paintings in this style Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) shocked critics and friends alike when it was exhibited.

Later Picasso sought a different type of reaction from his painting Guernica (1937), which is thought to be one of Picasso's greatest works. Created during his Surrealist period, Picasso captures the horror of the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica, which killed many innocent civilians during the Spanish Civil War.

By the end of World War II, Picasso had become an internationally known artist and celebrity. A highly productive artist, he created a large number of works during his lifetime. Besides painting, he made sculptures, etchings, and many different types of prints.

While Picasso died on April 8, 1973, in Antibes, France, interest in his art continues to grow. Highly regarded, Picasso's work is in many major museums around the world, including the Louvre in Paris, and has sold for millions of dollars at auction.