The Most Famous Modern Artist - Pablo Picasso

One of the foremost figures of the 20th century, the larger-than-life Spanish artist, draughtsman and sculptor Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is considered the co-founder of the Cubist movement and the discoverer of neo-expressionism in the later stages of his career. Picasso's artistic career spanned almost his entire lifetime, right until 1971, his 90th year.

Picasso was born in Malaga in Spain's Andalusian region on October 25, 1881, and his childhood was spent in La Coruna, Barcelona and finally Madrid. He enrolled at the Royal Academy of San Fernando in 1897, aged 16. This was his final stop in formal training before embarking on a journey of experiences, meeting intellectuals, artists and socialites in Paris - the then art capital of Europe - which he first visited in 1900.

His earliest influence was his father Ruiz, who was an academic artist and instructor, and a naturalistic painter of birds and animals. His father's encouragement shaped much of Picasso's childhood and gave him the required basic training at home.

Picasso's artistic career began with his teens spent in Barcelona and Madrid. At the age of 14 he painted the "Portrait of Aunt Pepa" in oils on canvas. It was considered by Juan-Eduardo Cirlot as one of the greatest Spanish paintings of all times. This work displayed his innate skill as a painter.

His canvases belong to distinctive periods such as the Blue Period (1901-1904), Rose Period (1904-1906), African-influenced period (1907-1909), Cubism (1909-1912), the period of Classicism and Surrealism in the 1920s and 30s, and the period beginning from the 1950s featuring his later works which are reinterpretations of the great masters of art as well as paintings that were posthumously appreciated as precursors of neo-expressionism.

Pablo Picasso's works on canvas of the Blue Period include "Femme aux Bras Croises" (1902), "Celestina" (1903), "The Old Guitarist" (1903), the "Portrait of Suzanne Bloch" (1904) and many paintings of his dear friend Carlos Casagemas who committed suicide in February 1901.

The Rose Period was a brighter period in Picasso's life, influenced by his relationship with his mistress, Fernande Olivier. One of the most representative canvases of this stage of Picasso's career is the "Garcon a la Pipe" (Boy with a Pipe - 1905), his highest selling painting, which sold for $104m in 2004. The period is also characterised by Picasso's use of orange and pink colours that contrast with the sombre blue and blue-green shades of the Blue Period.

The "Dora Maar au Chat" painted in oils on canvas by Picasso in 1941 is one of the most expensive paintings in the world. Done during the time of the Nazi occupation of France, the painting depicts 29 year old Dora Maar, Picasso's Croatian mistress with whom he had a relationship of ten years.

Pablo Picasso died in Mougins, France on April 8th 1973 leaving a large void in the world of modern art.