Picasso

Now is the time in this period of changes and revolution to use a revolutionary manner of painting and not to paint like before. - Pablo Picasso, 1935. (Barnes) Undoubtedly Pablo Picasso is one of the most famous and well-documented artists of the twentieth century. Picasso, unlike most painters, is even more special because he did not confine himself to canvas, but also produced sculpture, poetry, and ceramics in profusion. Although much is known about this genius, there is still a lust after more knowledge concerning Picasso, his life and the creative forces that motivated him. This information can be obtained only through a careful study of the events that played out during his lifetime and the ways in which they manifested themselves in his creations (Penrose).

As Rachel Barnes points out in her introduction to Picasso by Picasso: Artists by Themselves, there seemed to be no doubt that Picasso would become a painter. In order to better hone his prodigious abilities, Picasso attended the Academy in Barcelona for a brief period of time. He spent most of his early years painting in Paris, where he progressed through various periods - including a Blue period from 1900 to 1904 and a Rose period in 1904 - before creating the Cubist movement that lasted until the beginning of the First World War.

Picasso's development toward cubism reached its climax with the monumental justly celebrated Demoiselles d'Avignon (1906). This painting, named