Pablo Picasso

An ardent womanizer, he had a number of relationships with girlfriends, mistress, muses and prostitutes.

In his lifetime, he married twice, first to a ballerina, Olga KhoKhlova in 1918. The two separated ways in 1927 but not before being blessed with a son. However they were not legally divorced and the marriage ended only in 1955 after Khokhlova’s death.

Post Khokhlova’s death, he was into a romantic relationship with Marie-Therese Walter. He fathered a daughter from the relationship.

Pablo Picasso was born to Don Jose Ruiz Blasco and Dona Maria Picasso y Lopez. His father was a painter and arts teacher by profession.

A prodigious painter, his brilliance at drawing somewhat concealed his poor academic records. Mentored by his father, he, by the age of 13, surpassed senior Picasso in terms of skill and talent.

In 1895, his family relocated to Barcelona, Spain. The move turned fruitful for him as he got an opportunity to enrol at the prestigious School of Fine Arts. But the strict rules of the school frustrated him and he began skipping classes to wander on streets of Barcelona and sketching whatever he observed.

In 1897, he moved to Madrid to attend the Royal Academy of San Fernando. However, here too the strict rules and formal instructions irked him to the extent that he stopped attending classes.

He moved around the lanes of Madrid, observing and painting what appealed his vision. He visited the Prado museum to see paintings by famous Spanish painters.

With Paris deemed as the world center for avant-garde art, it was only natural for him to relocate to the city. As such, at the turn of the century, he moved to Paris to be at the epicentre of the world of art.

He opened an art studio in Montmarte, Paris. Despite being a teenager, he had the technique to appropriate any style, and the insight to know which styles were important.

Historians have separated his works in different periods. As such, from 1901 until 1904, was the Blue period. Just as the name depicts most of his works were marked by sombre paintings in shades of blue and blue-green, only intermittently having shades of other colors.

He applied various techniques during his period, starting from the blurred technique to divisionism and expressionism. The subject he chose ranged from poverty and isolation to anguish and melancholy. Some of his famous paintings of this period include, ‘Blue Nude’, ‘La Vie’ and ‘The Old Guitarist’.

Succeeding the Blue period was the Rose period from 1904 until 1906, during which the color pink dominated much of his works. Most of his paintings were of circus people, acrobats and harlequins. Additionally, his works showcased the warm relationship that he shared with Fernande Olivier.

He was twice conferred with the International Lenin Peace Prize, first in 1950 and next in 1961.