Spanish
Born in 1881, Picasso's talent matured incredibly early and some of his work done before the age of 14 showed qualities of a master. Picasso's early work revealed an interest in a wide variety of artists and styles. His work from 1901 to 1904 is known as his Blue Period and involved emotional subject
matter painted in the Spanish tradition. In 1904 Picasso took a studio in Bateau Lavoir and became the major force in an artistic circle which included Max Jacob, Guillaume Apollinaire, Andre Salmon and Marie Laurencin.

Picasso began to gain a following from a number of dealers and collectors including the Russian Shchukin and Leo and Gertrude Stein. His work from 1905 to around 1908 is far less austere and the blues of his earlier work give way to pinks and greys. This work which used acrobats, dancers and harlequins as subject matter later became known as his Pink Period. In 1907 he was taken up by the dealer Daniel H. Kahnweiler.

The 1907 work, Demoiselles D'Avignon, a semi-abstract piece influenced by Negro sculpture, showed a new direction in his work. This work which was the first to show strong signs of cubism was incomprehensible to the artists around him. It was not publicly shown until 1937 and it is now considered to be the single most important and influential work of the Twentieth century.

The years from 1907 to 1909, now known as his Negro Period, saw him become incredibly independent as an artist. During this time he focused on an analysis and simplification of form and his work of this time was largely based on his study of Cezanne and Negro sculpture.

From 1910 to 1916 Picasso worked closely with Braque, and later, Gris, developing Cubism. Paper collage played a large part in this work combining everyday, found, objects with paper and paint to create still life and interior scenes. The relationship between Braque and Picasso was broken by
an argument. Picasso's work of the early 1920s showed a considerable involvement in Surrealism and he exhibited along side a number of the Surrealists at this time. Breton hailed him as one of the initiators of the movement in 1928 but by the latter part of the 1920s Picasso was painting
very different images of great tenseness focussing on despair and anguish. Picasso's ability to make crucial contributions to so many of the artistic developments of the first half of the century and yet retain his own artistic path is perhaps the factor which sets him apart from any other artist in history.

As a printmaker, Picasso initially concentrated on etching, producing The Vollard Suite in the 1930s. The Vollard Suite was created between 1930 and 1937 and was named after its publisher. It comprises of 73 sheets on five main themes-The Battle of Love, The Sculptor's Studio, the Rembrandt sheets and the Minotaur- as well as 27 sheets on disparate themes including three portraits of Vollard.

Probably the most influential and controversial figure of modern art, Picasso was at the forefront of the European avant-garde from the early 1900s until the end of the Second World War. His work involved radical intellectualism, serious political commitment and, at the same time, playful wit and association with his well publicised lifestyle. Very little has happened since in art history which does not demand to be seen in some relationship to his greatest achievements.

LIT:
A.H. Barr Jr, Catalogue, Picasso:Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York 1957
Roland Penrose, Picasso: His Life and Work, London 1958
Maurice Raynal, Picasso: Biographical and critical studies, Geneva 1953