Interesting facts from the life of Pablo Picasso. Picasso – a genius and a sexual maniac

19.08.2016

It is difficult to find another artist whose work would cause so much controversy. The name of the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, who spent most of his life in France, is pronounced by some people with delight, by others with irony and mockery. Books published in different languages ​​are dedicated to him, treatises and poems have been created. The biography and life of Pablo Picasso is characterized by many interesting facts. Here are some of them.

1. At birth, the midwife considered the future artist stillborn. But his uncle, who smoked large cigars, blew smoke into his face, and the boy began to cry.
2. Picasso's full name consists of 24 names of the heavenly patrons of numerous relatives.
3. Pablo's father was also an artist, so the boy took his mother's surname, as if he had a presentiment of his great future.
4. Picasso's first word was not "mama." He said "piz" - short for "La piz" (pencil).
5. Like many talented people, Picasso was left-handed. After all, the left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for creative processes, and therefore is more developed in them.
6. The father has been drawing with his son since he was 7 years old. But at 13 he decided to stop studying because he began to notice that he was superior to his own father.
7. At the age of 13, the first exhibition of works by Pablo Picasso took place.
8. In 1900, Picasso lived in Paris. His financial affairs at that time were so bad that he even burned several of his paintings to keep warm.
9. Picasso became addicted to opium in his youth, but abruptly gave up this activity when his neighbor, an artist from Germany, committed suicide due to the withdrawal symptoms.
10. Picasso became one of the founders of such a movement in painting as cubism. In this case, the images are divided into geometric shapes, the planes are shifted.
11. During the First World War, Igor Stravinsky's gift to Picasso - a portrait of the composer - was confiscated at customs, considering the pile of incomprehensible squares to be a plan of some secret object.
12. Pablo Picasso performed some of his graphic works with unconventional materials: nail polish, lipstick, and a ballpoint pen.
13. Picasso's first wife was Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova. They didn't live long. Pablo started an affair with a 17-year-old compatriot, and she was expecting a child from him. Khokhlova filed for divorce, but Picasso refused to divide the property equally, as required by the marriage contract. In this regard, until the end of her life, the ballerina remained his only legal wife. The artist's numerous mistresses were decades younger than him.
14. Picasso had three children from 2 women. Relatives unanimously spoke of the artist as an indifferent person, a cruel domestic tyrant. With his wives and mistresses, he behaved like a despot, constantly humiliating them. Two of them committed suicide.
15. Possessing untold wealth at the end of his life, Picasso nevertheless had fantastic stinginess towards his loved ones. It took enormous effort to beg money from him for the treatment of his granddaughter... He gave his paintings to friends, casual acquaintances, but not to members of his household.
16. There is a mystical story associated with the name of Pablo Picasso. A few months after his death, the English artist Matthew Manning discovered that he was painting under the direction of... the late artist. At the same time, the Englishman did not fall into a trance.

The diversity of Picasso's talent is amazing. He not only painted pictures, but also created collages, prints, and scenery for theatrical productions. Also of interest are sculptures and pottery, monumental paintings, book illustrations, and various graphic works. Pablo Picasso lived for 91 years (almost a century!), and did a lot to change the usual idea of ​​art.

Illness and recovery

Throughout the cold winter of 1938, a prolonged attack of radiculitis kept Picasso bedridden. Sabartes will leave memories of this painful period in the artist’s life, sleepless nights, an endless string of sympathetic visitors, each of whom offered some kind of miraculous remedy, and the appearance of a doctor who, as if by magic, managed to immediately put the patient on his feet after cauterization of the nerve.

In July, the usual wanderlust prompts Picasso to leave Paris and go to the Mediterranean coast. This time he rented an apartment in Antibes. Before he had time to properly settle down in it, he received a message about Vollard’s unexpected death. The next day he returns to Paris, but does not stay there for long.

The first few days of our stay in Antibes were devoted to the sights of other places on the coast - Monte Carlo, Nice, Cannes and Mougins. Following this, Picasso plunges into work. The rented apartment was filled with all sorts of tables and decorated with trinkets that irritated him. When this situation became unbearable for him, he, with the help of Sabartes and Marcel, piled up the antiques, trinkets and ersatz paintings that were hanging on the walls, thus turning the apartment into a studio, where the usual chaos of an artist’s studio soon arose. The huge walls, on which there was nothing left except colorful wallpaper, gave him the idea of ​​​​creating another large-sized painting. He acquired a huge canvas and with extraordinary speed transferred onto it the images of the people who surrounded him at that time. During one of the evening walks with Dora Maar, they came across a small bay where fishing boats were moored, preparing for night fishing, during which the fishermen used acetylene lamps. Their light attracted fish, which became the victim of a fisherman standing in a boat, armed with a spear. The bright light picked out brilliant sea creatures of amazing color and bizarre shape from the night, while bugs and moths danced in the powerful rays of the stream of light created by the lamp. It was this scene that Picasso chose for his large painting, on which he now worked tirelessly every day.

However, this job did not stop him from going to the beach every morning. During our stay in Antibes we met daily on the shore and exchanged news of the political situation. The fall of Barcelona and the disappearance of the last faint hopes of a Republican victory have deeply disappointed us. Some consolation was brought by the arrival of two of Picasso's nephews, Fin and Javier Vilato, who had escaped internment in France after crossing the Pyrenees by the defeated Republican army. The joy of meeting them and the fun they indulged in on the beach temporarily dispelled the artist’s gloomy mood.

Although everyone hoped for a successful outcome, reports of ultimatums from Nazi Germany and mobilization in France plunged everyone into a state of shock. Every evening, Picasso came to a cafe on the main square of Antibes to exchange views with friends and, enjoying the coolness, spend an hour or two with them over a cup of tea or a glass of mineral water. If earlier conversations were conducted on a variety of topics, now they revolved around one issue - everyone discussed departure plans. After a few days, most of the friends left, and the city began to fill with soldiers. In the mountains near luxury hotels and swimming pools, Senegalese soldiers installed machine guns.

Picasso did not know what to do. He was upset that his work was interrupted just at the moment when he began to see more clearly the new forms that his quest had recently taken on. He told his friends jokingly that preparations for war began specifically to prevent the emergence of a new direction in painting. In this regard, Sabartes noted: “He hated war more than anything else because it threatened his creativity. Peace was necessary for his nature, which was fueled by internal struggle.”

In the evening, after the announcement on the radio about Hitler’s attack on Poland, I went to his apartment. The new painting, which depicted a night hunt, seemed complete. Other canvases leaning against the walls remained untouched. I looked out the window. The towers of Grimaldi Castle stood out indistinctly against the muted blues, scarlets and grays of the sky. From the balcony one could see the old city, the streets of which were already dimly lit for camouflage purposes. The rectangular brick walls, illuminated by street lamps at the corners, looked strikingly like Cubist paintings. It seemed that the architecture of these ancient buildings began to look like paintings created by Picasso.

We said goodbye, promising to write to each other, and Picasso immediately began packing his things. He decided to go to Paris by train (they were crowded at that time). Marcel had to return by car, taking suitcases, boxes and the painting “Night Fishing in Antibes”, rolled up and lying on the back seat. It would be six years before Picasso could return to the Mediterranean again.

“If I joined the army, I would become a general.
But I became an artist and became Picasso.”

They have probably heard about him even in the most remote corners of the globe. Not everyone likes the work of this unique genius of the 20th century, but you cannot hide his talent, and even Picasso’s opponents cannot help but respect him. His success is enviable; he has a lot to learn from.
In honor of the 133rd anniversary of the birth of the great artist, let us remember
the most interesting facts from his life.

Pablo Picasso, 1886

Pablo Picasso at the age of 15, 1896

"Picador"

“First Communion”

Modigliani, Picasso and Andre Salmon in front of the Cafe Rotunda, Paris, 1916

Pablo Picasso, his first love Fernande Olivier

and Jaquin Reventos, Barcelona, ​​1906

Picasso and his first wife, ballerina Olga Khokhlova, against the backdrop of a poster for the ballet Parade, 1917

Marie-Therese Walter with her mother's dog, 1932

"Dream"

Picasso with Françoise Gilot, 1941

Their two children, Claude and Paloma Picasso, 1951

Picasso and his second wife, Jacqueline Roque, dance in front of the painting “Bathers”, 1957

“Boy with a pipe.” Sold for $104 million, May 4, 2004

“Portrait of Dora Maar”, 1938

Sculpture “Chicago Picasso”, made by him in 1967

“Citroen Picasso”

They have probably heard about him even in the most remote corners of the globe. Not everyone likes the work of this unique genius of the 20th century, but you cannot hide his talent, and even Picasso’s opponents cannot help but respect him. His success is enviable; he has a lot to learn from.
In honor of Picasso's 132nd birthday, we present the most interesting facts from the artist's life.

Newborn Picasso saved by cigar smoke

Pablo Picasso, 1886

Pablo Picasso with his sister Lola, 1889

The birth was difficult and the baby was born so weak that the midwife considered him stillborn. She left it on the table and went to tell her mother the bad news. The child was saved by luck - his uncle, Don Salvador, was smoking cigars, and when he saw the baby lying on the table, he blew smoke in his face. The newborn made a grimace and began to cry. If it were not for smoking, Pablo Picasso might not have been born as a famous artist.

The first word was "pencil"

“I could draw like Raphael, but instead I spent my whole life learning to draw like a child.”

Pablo Picasso at the age of 15, 1896

Picasso at the age of 23, 1904

Little Pablo learned to draw before he spoke, and his first word was the word “pencil” (piz, short for lapiz, which means “pencil” in Spanish). When the boy turned 7, his father, an artist and art professor, began teaching him how to draw. He soon saw that his son was superior to him in this art and vowed to give up drawing. Picasso passed the entrance exams to an art school in Barcelona in one day, while everyone else took a month to pass them.

First drawings

"Picador"

"First Communion"

At the age of 9, Picasso drew his first completed drawing - “The Picador” (Le picador), depicting a rider on a horse participating in a bullfight. Pablo finished his first “academic”, that is, a completely adult picture, at the age of 15. It is called “First Communion”, and depicts his father, mother and sister near the altar.

Picasso is an insufferable student

Modigliani, Picasso and Andre Salmon in front of the Cafe Rotunda, Paris, 1916

At the school where he studied, Pablo was often placed in a special isolation ward - “calaboose” for his disgusting attitude towards teachers. It was a room with white walls and a bench to sit and reflect on your behavior. The future artist used this “confinement” to paint, where no one would distract him. According to the artist, he would like to never leave this room, and paint, paint.

Passion for women

“Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I look at things through the prism of love.”

None of the great artists had as many affairs and lovers as Pablo Picasso had. He needed women like air; they fueled the fire of his talent.

Pablo Picasso, his first love Fernanda Olivier and Jaquin Reventos, Barcelona, ​​1906

Picasso and his first wife, ballerina Olga Khokhlova, against the backdrop of a poster for the ballet Parade, 1917

Marie-Therese Walter with her mother's dog, 1932

Picasso met Marie-Thérèse Walter at the Lafayette Gallery in Paris. It was she who became the model for his painting Le Rêve - “The Dream”, or “The Dream”, one of Picasso’s most famous masterpieces. The painting was painted within one day.

In 2006, casino owner Steve Wynn agreed to sell the canvas for $139 million, but inadvertently elbowed the canvas before the deal was completed.

Picasso with Françoise Gilot, 1941

Their two children, Claude and Paloma Picasso, 1951

When Picasso met Françoise Gilot, she was 21 and he was forty years older. She was the only woman who left him on her own, left to live: to become a famous artist, to raise children.

Picasso and his second wife, Jacqueline Roque, dance in front of Bathers, 1957

The painting was painted in the Bateau-Lavoir hostel in Montmartre by the 24-year-old Picasso, during the so-called “pink period” of his work. It depicts an unknown boy with a pipe in his left hand and a crown of roses on his head.

How Picasso invented Cubism

“The Guitarist”, 1910, painting by Picasso in the cubist style

"Portrait of Dora Maar", 1938

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907

In 1909, Pablo Picasso and French artist Georges Braque came up with a new art movement known as Cubism. More precisely, it was invented by the French critic Louis Vauxcelles, who was the first to call the works “strange cubes” (bizarre cubiques), or cubism, noting that Picasso’s works were “full of small cubes.”

Picasso is not only an artist

“I always do what I don’t know how to do in order to learn it.”

Sculpture "Chicago Picasso", made by him in 1967

Although he gained fame for his paintings, Picasso experimented with sculpture, ceramics, and graphics. He even designed curtains, sets and costumes for several ballet productions. Picass wrote poetry and became the author of two plays.

Picasso's car

Not exactly his car, but a car in his style. Mechanic Andy Saunders from Dorset, England, spent six months tuning his old Citroen 2CV into cubist style. Sanders calls this car the Citroen Picasso.

The secret of mastery

One day, at a local market, a woman approached Pablo Picasso and handed him a piece of paper.

Mr. Picasso,” she said excitedly, “I’m your big fan.” Could you draw something for me?
Picasso happily agreed and quickly captured his work of art on this piece of paper. With a smile, he returned the piece of paper to the woman and said:
- It will cost a million dollars.
“But Mr. Picasso,” the woman exclaimed in amazement, “you spent about 30 seconds to draw this miniature masterpiece!”
“Good woman,” Picasso grinned in response, “I spent 30 years to draw this masterpiece in 30 seconds.”

Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Ruiz and Picasso (1881 -1973) - the great Spanish artist and the most provocative painter of the twentieth century Pablo Picasso about lived 91 years. He left his indelible mark in almost all areas of modern art.

BIOGRAPHY OF PABLO PICASSO

He was born in 1881. Pablo took his mother's surname, since his father's surname - Ruiz - was very common, and besides, the father of the future artist was an artist himself, and Pablo had someone to learn from.

As a child, his father allowed Pablo to finish his work for him - for example, finishing the legs of pigeons. One day, when Pablo had the opportunity to complete a larger-scale work, Jose Ruiz was amazed by his technique, and, as one of the legends about Picasso says, he was so amazed that from that day on he himself quit painting.

Already at the age of 16, Pablo went to Madrid, to the best art school at that time. He did not study there for long, although he managed to amaze both his fellow students and teachers with his skill. He became much more interested in various aspects of the life of a big city, and also plunged headlong into the work of artists that interested him - Diego Velazquez, Francisco Goya, and especially El Greco.

Picasso lived a very long life, never ceasing to create. Over his almost century-long life, he experienced many creative changes, romantic meetings with women, changed a dozen luxurious houses and died a multimillionaire.

WORK OF PABLO PICASSO

“Brilliant talent” is how the teenager was described at the Madrid Academy of Fine Arts. However, Pablo soon announced to his parents that complete conservatism reigned there and he would not learn anything new. At the age of 15, the young artist created a work of deep content - “Knowledge and Mercy”. The painting received a gold medal, and Pablo’s first solo exhibition was held at the Four Cats cafe.

In 1900, Picasso visited Paris and fell ill with it. Four years later he moved there to live. "Bent Harlequin", "Absinthe Drinker". The artist removes everything unnecessary from the compositions, perfectly conveying the emotional state of the characters.
Gradually, multicolor disappears from Picasso’s paintings, giving way to a piercing blue color. The works are filled with a feeling of melancholy and loneliness, which are akin to the mood of the painter himself.

Knowledge and Mercy Bent Harlequin Absinthe Drinker

Changes in the master’s life followed after his acquaintance with the Russian philanthropist and collector Pyotr Shchukin. He purchased several paintings by the young artist. Well, then Pablo’s life was illuminated by his love for the red-haired beauty Fernanda Olivier, who inspired the artist to create the famous image of a female guitar. The girl lived in the same house as the master. The jealous Picasso put a lock on the door, protecting his treasure. Transparent and light colors appeared in his palette.

The "pink" period reflects Pablo's passion for the circus. Harlequins and street gymnasts are his favorite characters. A miniature gymnast wants to maintain her balance while standing on a spinning ball; she is impressed by her success, showing the man sitting next to her agility and grace ("Girl on a Ball"). The picture has a truly magical property: not a single detail can be excluded from it - otherwise the entire composition will crumble.

A combination of geometric objects and human figures. In 1906, the artist's style changed dramatically. In "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" the master created a completely new reality by constructing figures from geometric volumes broken by sharp angles. The public and Picasso's friends were shocked. However, this work will be called an important step on the path to cubism. Fine Esperanto, as this genre is called, developed in stages.

The “Cézanne” stage is characterized by gray, brown and green tones (“Woman with a Fan”), and the image is based on the juxtaposition of geometric figures. “Analytical” cubism literally “splits” the image into parts. The canvas resembles shards of broken glass containing the reflection of a person (“Portrait of Ambroise Vollard”). “Synthetic” cubism (“Violin and Guitar”) is distinguished by its decorativeness and contrast. Despite the audience's rejection of most of Picasso's ideas, his paintings sold well.

Woman with a Fan Portrait of Ambroise Vollard Violin and Guitar

In 1917, the artist decided to try his hand at a new field, creating sets and costumes for the performances of the Diaghilev Ballet in Paris. Olga Khokhlova danced in the corps de ballet, had a proud posture, was aristocratically refined and unapproachable (“Portrait of Olga in a Chair”). Passionately in love, Pablo married his beloved. Olga sought to make her bohemian husband more sophisticated. However, it soon turned out that they were completely different people. Even the birth of a son did not save the dying relationship.

Well, since 1927, the image of a fair-haired woman (“Dream”) began to appear on the artist’s canvases. Marie-Therese Walter's passion coincided with her attempts to express herself in a surreal manner. Scandals in the family and quarrels with Marie-Therese - Picasso cut this Gordian knot in one fell swoop, leaving both women behind.

The avant-garde photographer Dora Maar provided an intellectual outlet for the artist. She filmed the entire process of creating the famous triptych “Guernica” - the master’s response to wartime events. Dora became Picasso's main model for many years.
Pablo learned the real joy of life with the young artist Françoise Gillot (“Joy of Life”). Independent and freedom-loving, she gave the artist a son, Claude, and a daughter, Paloma, but could not be with him.

The master’s last companion and second official wife, Jacqueline Rock, called him “Monsignor” and kissed his hands. One of the best works of Picasso’s late work is “The Kiss”. Everything about it is exaggeratedly large. The woman clung to her beloved man with trusting devotion, peering into the features dear to her.

Portrait of Olga in a chair Dream Joy of life Kiss

One can argue for a long time about whether Picasso loved his muses or mistook passion for love. One thing is clear: all of them were needed to leave the priceless legacy of a genius whose importance for world art is difficult to overestimate. This is 50 thousand paintings, sculptures, ceramics and drawings. Such creative energy completely changed the landscape of world painting; even during his lifetime, Picasso was recognized as a genius of the 20th century.

INTERESTING FACTS FROM THE LIFE OF PABLO PICASSO

At birth, Pablo was considered dead - the child was born so weak. The mother had a very difficult birth, and this could not but affect the heir. The midwife even went to tell the baby's mother the sad news that the baby was stillborn. However, Uncle Picasso loved cigars, and even entered the room where his “dead” nephew lay, holding a smoking cigar in his mouth. Without thinking twice, the uncle blew a stream of smoke into the baby’s face, and he reacted by crying. Naturally, after that he was no longer considered dead.

The first word the boy said was “PIZ,” short for “LAPIZ” (“pencil” in Spanish). Pablo's father, an artist by profession, began raising his son to be an artist, starting at the age of 7. However, Picasso's father vowed to abandon his calling when his son turned 13 years old - he had already surpassed his father (by the way, an art professor).

The artist painted his first picture at the age of nine; it was of a rider on a horse who participated in a bullfight. Already at the age of 15, Picasso created his first masterpiece - a painting depicting his relatives at the altar.

The artist was very hot-tempered since childhood, and he was constantly punished. The artist's temperament became more and more eccentric with age, but his talent did not disappear, but became brighter.

Picasso received his first serious work by concluding a contract with the seller of paintings Pere Menach from Paris. This brought him 150 francs (in modern money, about 750 US dollars - in terms of course).

In 1909, the young Picasso and his friend invented cubism - although it was not they who came up with the name, but a French critic who noticed that Picasso's paintings were full of cubes.

Picasso was extremely rich, and left behind only real estate worth one and a half billion dollars. His paintings are absolutely invaluable. Now some works by Pablo Picasso are valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kostenevich A. “Dryad”. Genesis and meaning of Picasso’s painting // Bulletin of history, literature, art. Department of History and Philology Sciences RAS. M.: Collection; The science. T. 1. 2005. pp. 118-131.

Pablo Picasso. Poems.

M., Marina Picasso. Grandfather: memories.

M., Nadezhdin N. Ya. Pablo Picasso: “The Flame of Guernica”: Biographical stories. - 2nd ed. - M.: Major, Osipenko, 2011. - 192 p. - (Series “Informal biographies”). - 2000 copies.

German M. Yu. “Picasso. The path to triumph" // M.: Art-21st century. 2013

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