Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso{{ref|name}}, formally Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Spanish painter, (October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973) was one of the recognized masters of 20th century art, probably most famous as the founder, along with Georges Braque, of Cubism.

Personal life

Picasso hated to be alone when he wasn't working. In Paris, in addition to having a distinguished coterie of friends in the Montmartre and Montparnasse quarters, including André Breton, Guillaume Apollinaire, writer Gertrude Stein and others, he usually maintained a number of mistresses in addition to his wife or primary partner. Picasso married twice and had four children by three women.

Related Topics:
Paris - Montmartre - Montparnasse - André Breton - Guillaume Apollinaire - Gertrude Stein

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In the early years of the 20th century, Picasso, still a struggling youth, began a long term relationship with Fernande Olivier. It is she who appears in many of the Rose period paintings. After garnering fame and some fortune, Picasso left Olivier for Marcelle Humbert, whom Picasso called Eva. Picasso included declarations of his love for Eva in many Cubist works. Humbert was diagnosed with cancer and during her rapid deterioration, Picasso administered to her every need, making daily trips across Paris to visit her in the hospital.

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In 1918, Picasso married Olga Khoklova, a ballerina with Sergei Diaghilev's troupe, for whom Picasso was designing a ballet, Parade, in Rome. Khoklova introduced Picasso to high society, formal dinner parties, and all the social niceties attendant on the life of the rich in 1920s Paris. The two had a son, Paulo, who would grow up to be a dissolute motorcycle racer and chauffeur to his father.

Related Topics:
1918 - Olga Khoklova - Sergei Diaghilev

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Khoklova's insistence on social propriety clashed with Picasso's bohemian tendencies and the two lived in a state of constant conflict. In 1927 Picasso met 17 year old Marie-Thérèse Walter and began a secret affair with her. Picasso's marriage to Khoklova soon ended in separation rather than divorce, as French law required an even division of property in the case of divorce and Picasso did not want Khoklova to have half his wealth. The two remained legally married until Khoklova's death in 1955.

Related Topics:
Bohemian - Marie-Thérèse Walter - 1955

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Picasso carried on a long-standing affair with Walter and fathered a daughter, Maya, with her. Marie Thérèse lived in the vain hope that Picasso would one day marry her and hanged herself after Picasso's death.

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The photographer and painter Dora Maar was also a constant companion and lover of Picasso. The two were closest in the late 1930s and early 1940s and it was Maar who documented the painting of Guernica. Like all the women in his life, Maar was cruelly emotionally abused by the narcissistic Picasso.

Related Topics:
Dora Maar - Guernica

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After the liberation of Paris in 1944, Picasso began to keep company with a young art student, Françoise Gilot. The two eventually became lovers, and had two children together, Claude, and Paloma. Uniquely among Picasso's women, Gilot left Picasso in 1953 because of his abusive treatment and infidelities. This came as a severe blow to Picasso.

Related Topics:
Liberation of Paris - 1944 - Françoise Gilot - 1953

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He went through a difficult period after Gilot's departure, coming to terms with his advancing age and his perception that he was an old man, now in his 70s, who was no longer attractive, but rather grotesque to young women. A number of ink drawings from this period explore this theme of the hideous old dwarf as buffoonish counterpoint to the beautiful young girl, including several from a six-week affair with Geneviève Laporte, who in June 2005 auctioned off the drawings Picasso made of her.

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Picasso was not long in finding another lover, Jacqueline Roque. Roque worked at the Madoura Pottery, where Picasso made and painted ceramics. The two remained together for the rest of Picasso's life, marrying in 1961. Their marriage was also the means of one last act of revenge against Gilot. Gilot had been seeking a legal means to legitimize her children with Picasso, Claude and Paloma. With Picasso's encouragement, she had arranged to divorce her then husband, Luc Simon, and marry Picasso to secure her children's rights. Picasso then secretly married Roque after Gilot had filed for divorce in order to exact his revenge for her leaving him.

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In addition to his manifold artistic accomplishments, Picasso had a film career, including a cameo appearance in Jean Cocteau's Testament of Orpheus. Picasso always played himself in his film appearances.

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