Pablo Ruiz Picasso: A Revolutionary Master of 20th-Century Modern Art

Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881–1973)

Pablo Ruiz Picasso (Spanish: Pablo Ruiz Picasso) was a renowned Spanish artist, painter, sculptor, printmaker, stage designer, writer, and former member of the French Communist Party. Famous in France, he, together with Georges Braque, founded Cubism and became one of the leading figures of modern art in the 20th century. With more than 20,000 works left behind, Picasso was among the rare artists who achieved both fame and fortune during his lifetime.

Alongside Marcel Duchamp and Henri Matisse, Picasso is regarded as one of the three artists who spearheaded the revolutionary developments of modern visual arts in the early 20th century. In Spain, he is celebrated together with Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró as the “three greats” of modern Spanish art.

From an early age, Picasso demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent. In his childhood and youth, he painted in a naturalistic style. During the first decade of the 20th century, his style shifted as he experimented with new theories, techniques, and ideas. After 1906, the Fauvist works of Henri Matisse, who was slightly older, inspired Picasso to explore more radical forms of expression. The rivalry and dialogue between the two artists proved highly fruitful, and critics soon regarded them as the leading figures of modern art.

Picasso’s artistic output is often categorized into distinct periods. Although some of the labels for his later periods are debated, the most widely accepted phases are the Blue Period, Rose Period, African-influenced Period, Analytic Cubism, and Synthetic Cubism (also known as the Crystal Period). In the late 1910s and early 1920s, he worked in a neoclassical style, while by the mid-1920s, many of his paintings showed strong Surrealist elements. His later works often integrated features from his earlier styles.

Over his long and prolific career, Picasso gained worldwide acclaim and immense wealth for his revolutionary artistic achievements, ultimately becoming one of the most famous and influential figures in 20th-century art.