Pablo Ruiz Picasso – Born on October 25th, 1881, deceased on April 8th, 1973 at age 91
He is known as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He stands as a role model and incarnation of modern art, more than any other artist. Besides being a painter, illustrator and sculptor he was one of the “founders” of cubism.
At the age of 7 Picasso was taught the fundamentals of painting by his father, who worked as an art teacher at the time. When he was 15 years old, Pablo Picasso had already reached such a high level in his works, that he was permitted to study at the art university in Barcelona. For his life’s work, it was essential that he had an academic education in drawing and painting.
In the year 1900 Picasso made a trip to Paris and intensely studied the works of Impressionists. The 19th century’s Avantgarde impressed him extensively and he started to imitate their style by capturing the city life of Paris. Still his work didn’t show his full potential until he reduced colors and began his “blue period”.
Starting in 1907 Picasso pushed the boundaries of art and moved in a new direction. He and his colleague Georges Braque at the same time developed a new way of visualizing ideas. Working based on Paul Cézanne’s art both Picasso and Braque abstracted natural shapes and reassembled them using basic geometric objects. Picasso continued to refine his art style and kept on working until his death. His enormous lifework is more substantial than the works of many of his colleagues combined.
Till today his work is unrivaled. If trying to find a comparison one could at best mention names like Michelangelo or Leonardo. In the public realm, Picasso is identical to modern art itself, which still for most artists has a charlatanic after taste. But it was exactly him, who reduced all his technical possibilities for creating something completely unique.
Picasso himself is a perfect example for how important a fundamental education is. For this reason, the Academy of Fine Art Germany focuses on traditional teaching methods for realistic drawing and painting. Perfecting these basic skills gives you artistic freedom and the possibility to develop your own unique style.
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