“We all know that art is not the truth, art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.”
Pablo Picasso
What defines a hero? Is it the amount of lives saved? Might it be the number of burning buildings entered? Some might think it's the number of empires conquered. These are some excellent qualities when it comes to qualifying someone as a hero. But, what about the historical figures who weren't conquerors in a physical sense? What about the heroes who risked their livelihood and took the risk of pushing the envelope? What about men like Howard Hughes or Thomas Edison who didn't carry a sword or gun but sacrificed time and money to make this world a little different or better? This is the type of hero I am going to discuss today. His name is Pablo Picasso. Some might say he goes down in history as one of the greatest artists of all time. I agree. He was also more than an artist. He was a man of vision who took chances with his brush, a man who risked everything for change and succeeded.
Born on October 25th in 1881 to painter Don Jose Ruiz Blasco and Dona Maria Picasso Y Lopez, it seemed like Pablo Ruiz Blasco (Picasso) was destined for greatness. He was raised in Malaga with the confidence of a good mother. As a matter of fact, Picasso sheds some light on his mother's confidence in him with something he said of her,
“When I was a child, my mother said to me; "If you become a soldier, you"ll be a general, if you become a priest, you'll end up as the Pope.' Instead I became a painter and I wound up as Picasso.”2
He appears a fine reflection of what happens when children are instilled with confidence by their parents.
This upbringing gave him the strength to start creative endeavors at a very young age. He painted his first oil painting in 1889 at the age of eight. By the time he was eleven, he had the artistic talents of an adult artist.3 Does this make Picasso a hero though? Well, I can say that it looks like the makings of a hero. Most children his age aren't interested in painting and drawing and this makes Pablo unique as a child. Even to this day we have only heard of a small handful of child prodigies throughout the history of mankind such as this man.
1893 marks the date of Azul Y Blanco, a magazine that Pablo writes and illustrates. By 1896, Pablo's work, The First Communion, is displayed at the Fine Arts and Industry Exhibition in Barcelona.2 One can only assume the amount of courage it took to muster as a teenager to display your work in one of the best shows in Spain at the time. A showing is an intimidating process. The whole world gets to see your heart on a medium. Showing your work is like standing in the display window at Macy's naked.
It would be quite an event to be able to travel through Pablo Picasso's creative mind.
In his younger years alone, Pablo Picasso did what most only dream of doing their whole lives. He created a magazine, his work was already displayed and he studies at the Insituto De Guarda. The beginning of this man's life should be a template for parents who have children with special talents to follow. If it weren't for his parents, he may never have become the man that he became and the artist he is known as today.
If the work of his younger years is examined, one can see a major sense of realism in every medium he uses. It goes without saying that he isn't known for this style but it does teach something vital when it comes to any type of craft. Picasso had a foundation to work with so that he could look at his later masterpieces from an experienced and intelligent standpoint. Without this foundation, he might only be known as another artist of this century. But, the thought and process taken for his later work needed the foundation that he built in his younger years.
By 1897, there are some small hints of work that point to his later developed style. Autoportrait, a conte pencil drawing reminds us of something the great Russian-Jewish artist Marc Chagall might create. Bergers, created in 1898, also gives the viewer a sense of what might be running through the mind of this great thinker and what may come out onto canvas in the future. Observe that his work increased dramatically from over 30 pieces in 1897 to over 90 in 1898. He created over 160 pieces in his eighteenth year.3
