Pablo Picasso: Artist, Lover and Political Activist

Pablo Picasso is known for his many artistic talents; painting, sculpting, drawing, graphics and ceramics. His art forms changed so often because of his intense responses to life. Picasso's constant search for understanding "made him the leader in expressing the complexities of the 1900s" (International Arts Portal, para.1, 2005). The artist was drawn to tension and conflict, searching on the subconscious level of human emotion through his art. Picasso was not just an artist however; he was a man who had experienced the many facets of life. Picasso loved women, and the many emotions he felt through relationships as expressed through his art. He was a passionate political activist and a loving friend to many. Picasso's life, spent primarily between Spain and Paris, was filled with memorable and inspiring moments which can be seen through his art; however this essay focuses on the few prominent moments that are contributed to his most popular artistic stages.

Pablo Picasso was born in 1881 to Don Jose and Dona Maria. Picasso's father was an enormous influence on the artist; he acted as Picasso's mentor (Mallen, 2007). Don Jose was a strong influence on Picasso's art as demonstrated by his early artwork which depicted pigeons; which was what his father kept as subjects for his own paintings (Mallen, 2007).

In 1892, Picasso becomes a student of the "sculptor and painter, Isidoro Brocos" (sect.11, 2007). It is Brocos who informally introduces Picasso to watercolor techniques (2007).

By 1894 Picasso had established himself as a young artist, in journals and exhibits in A Coruna (2007). Picasso began focusing on transformation in his paintings when he was fourteen years old; which could have been associated with the death of his sister which occurred around that time. Picasso saw his paintings as a way of transforming himself and everything or everyone around him.

The artist demonstrated his natural love of all things and unbiased nature by befriending people of all ages and nationalities.