Pablo Picasso remains one of the most famous painters in the world, greatly influencing art for generations after his time. His life growing up was a key influence on his style.
Picasso was born in Málaga in Spain, in 1881, and grew up in Barcelona. In his later years, he moved around several places between France and Spain. During his youth, he attended an acclaimed art school, following in his artist parents’ footsteps. He ultimately settled in Paris, France before his death in 1973.
Learn more about Picasso’s life as a child, and his growth into adolescence, below.
Picasso’s Time In Spain
Pablo Picasso was born to Catholic parents Don José Ruiz y Blasco and María Picasso y López in the town of Málaga in Andalusia, southern Spain.
Málaga is the sixth-most populated city in Spain, with approximately 3,000 years of rich history. It is on the Costa del Sol of the Mediterranean, and boasts warm weather for most of the year.
Picasso was originally named Pablo Ruiz after his father, but elected to drop his second name, adopting his mother’s maiden name instead.
His father was an artist by profession, teaching classes as a professor at the School of Crafts and curating the local art museum. Ruiz earned a living by painting naturalistic game animals around him such as pigeons.
Picasso’s father began training him in various forms of painting since he was only 7 years old. At this early age, he learned formal skills in oil painting and painting figures.
Being an academic, Ruiz ingrained in Picasso the importance of formal training, discipline and precision in art, and was occupied with the importance of accuracy in paintings.
Their family moved to A Coruña in 1892, where he studied at the school of Fine and Applied Arts where his father taught.
In 1895, when Pablo had ventured into oil paintings and began to sell his work, his 7-year old sister Conchita tragically died.
After her death when he was 13, Picasso’s family moved to Barcelona, where he attended the Llotja School of Fine Arts at which his father also was a professor.
Barcelona is the second-most populous city in Spain, and is the capital city of the autonomous region Catalonia in northeastern Spain.
This city is similarly located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and was founded in Roman times. Today, it is an important location for culture, the economy, and tourism, with beautiful beaches and a bustling nightlife.
After His Youth
As Picasso grew older, he moved on to briefly study at Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, which was the number one art institution in Spain at the time.
Yet, he became bored of the classical teachings in professional art school and wanted to expand into new artistic territory.
As he first began to emerge as an artist, Picasso would paint portraits, later incorporating elements of Modernism in his landscape paintings.
As a young adult, Picasso moved to Paris to further his art career. Here, he met Max Jacob, a poet who mentored Picasso as they lived together in poverty.
It is reported that the two lived in such poverty that they would burn Picasso’s paintings on occasion to stay warm.
In 1901, Picasso moved back to Spain and lived in Madrid for some time, where he worked on a literary magazine before finally settling in France.
Picasso’s Widespread Influence
Picasso went through several “periods” in his work, the first being his Blue Period from 1901-1904. During this time, he primarily painted in various shades of blue after becoming depressed following the suicide of his close friend.
He later entered the Rose Period from 1904-1906, wherein he mainly painted in shades of pink, influenced by primitivism and using various motifs of clowns and the circus.
He is now considered one of the most influential painters in history, co-founding the Cubist movement as well as the creation of collages.