I would venture say that almost everyone knows of Pablo Picasso, and for good reasons.
He transformed art when he formed the cubist movement, which is pretty rad. But honestly, I would say it was probably his larger-than-life personality and excessive womanizing that helped propel this artist’s reputation to such great heights. (Was that a Postal Service reference? Yeesh.)
It seems like the hipsters of today are always changing their names to something bizarre that somehow encapsulates their funky style better. While I see it as cry for attention, there are a select few times when changing your name is for the best, and honesty it’s a good thing that Picasso decided alter his identity. His full name (and I am absolutely not making this up) is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso. Yeahhh…
Picasso love women. Honestly, that may be a bit of an understatement. He was obsessed. A total hornball, he didn't exactly respect the sanctity of marriage. He was hitched twice yet had a whole slew of affairs. His ego was just too big for him to care. Once, when a husband of a conquest confronted him Picasso allegedly told the man, "Think of it, your wife got to sleep with Picasso!" So lucky.
Yes, he was a heartbreaker. But if it weren’t for the cohorts of women that flocked to his knowing embrace, the world may not have as many stunning, albeit odd, female portraits with sideways faces and wonky boobs. Sort of gross though that some of the women he “painted” were as much as forty years younger than him.
If you haven’t guessed by now, Picasso was a bit of a bad boy, and was even arrested on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa. He was one to ruffle feathers, which may have fueled his motivation to join the French Communist Party. He was even honored twice with the Stalin Peace Prize.
And of course his art is stunning and everybody adores it. He is one of the most expensive artists on the market today. Recently, one of his paintings sold at Christie’s auction for a whopping $179 million! While I am not convinced that anyone should pay that much for a painting, I fully endorse the big bucks to be spent on Picasso, for between his love life, political views, and proclivities toward the paint brush, the man well deserves his reputation as one of the most innovative artists around.
I love that he is from Spain. It is inspiring and interesting to see his artistic interpretation of Europe.