Picasso

The master at work, surrounded by canvases that refuse to sit still — a complete reference on Pablo Picasso, built from the documented record.

The short version

Pablo Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and stage designer who spent most of his adult life in France. Over a working life of nearly eighty years he produced tens of thousands of works and repeatedly changed the course of modern art — from the melancholy Blue Period (1901–1904) through the Rose Period, the shock of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), the invention of Cubism with Georges Braque, the invention of collage, and the monumental anti-war statement of Guernica (1937).

This site tells that story straight: what is documented, what is disputed, and what is myth. Famous paintings that remain under copyright are described and linked to their museums — never reproduced. Every quotation is cited; the many sayings falsely pinned on Picasso are quarantined where they belong.

Where to begin

• New here? Start with Start Here — the five-minute orientation.
• The life in order: Biography and the Timeline.
• The breakthroughs: Blue Period, Rose Period, Les Demoiselles, Cubism, Guernica.
• His own words, honestly handled: Sayings — verified quotes cited, misattributions flagged.
• The stories that aren’t true: Myth vs. Record.

How this site handles images

Picasso died in 1973, so the overwhelming majority of his artworks remain under copyright. This site shows real public-domain and freely licensed photographs of Picasso, his studios, and the places he lived — and never reproduces his paintings. Where a famous work matters, the page describes it and links to the museum that holds it. AI-generated imagery appears only as labeled dramatization art (the Vizlings character), abstract illustration, or the social pack — never as fake history. Full details in Sources.

Source notes

Biographical dates follow the standard scholarly record (see Sources): birth 25 October 1881, Málaga; death 8 April 1973, Mougins. Period dates are the conventional art-historical ranges and are labeled as such on each page.