Pablo Picasso was truly a jack of all trades. Never one to be satisfied with only one artistic style, Picasso dabbled in many different artistic styles. When we study Picasso’s work, it can often be difficult to pinpoint his art style because of this. What is certain is that Picasso was truly an artist that was great at anything he tried.
Picasso was born in Spain in 1881 and lived until 1973. Having spent a great deal of time drawing in his lifetime, he was a natural artist as a child. His artistic works were on display at the tender age of fifteen. Though he was quite young, he was already mastering the modern arts movement of the time.
Picasso began using lots of blues after the death of a close friend to suicide. His “blue period” as it is commonly referred to was a difficult time for Picasso and the angst was evident in his artwork. This period lasted for around four years from 1901 until 1904. He then went to the other end of the spectrum with lots of jesters and clown like people throughout his art. This is commonly called his Rose period.
It was not long before Picasso decided to start dabbling with art work that was not easy to recognize. Though the artwork was striking and exciting, the forms were almost abstract and more about line and form.
Around 1912, Picasso found what is widely considered to be his artistic calling. Cubism was extremely popular at the time, and Picasso was one the best. Then Picasso jumped full force into Surrealism. Living in France at the time, and fully influenced by the war in the 40s, Picasso rendered important artwork that reflected the time period and the horrors of war. This period yielded the vast majority of Picasso masterpieces.
After all this work, Picasso then went on to produce artwork at an incredible rate. The art was in various styles and forms. The fact that he produced artwork right up until his death in 1973 is amazing in it’s own right. Picasso was more prolific late in life than he was in the beginning.
When one studies the work of Pablo Picasso, it is impossible to focus on one style for very long within his work. He was so adept at so many things that people have trouble deciding upon which ones they enjoy the most. Certainly his work in cubism and a surrealism can be considered works of study, so too could most of the rest of his artistic endeavors.
Picasso is one of the artists that virtually everyone owes a debt of gratitude to. Without his splendid examples, we would certainly be relegated to a much grayer artistic pallet. He was at the head of most every major art movement of his day, and he had an incredible talent for understanding artistic concept. Not only was he among the better artists of all time, he was also one of the most prolific. It is no small wonder that Picasso is considered one of the greatest artists of all time.
