A painter and printmaker who revolutionized western art, Pablo Picasso was born in Spain and lived most of his life either there or in France. His father was an art teacher and the young Pablo Picasso grew up in an artistic environment. By the age of fourteen, he was an accomplished draftsman and in 1900 at age nineteen he made his first trip to Paris. There Pablo Picasso studied the Old Masters and Classical sculpture and also was exposed to the paintings of Impressionists and Post Impressionists.

Between 1901 and 1904, the work of Pablo Picasso was dominated by a blue palette, which has led to this time being called his “Blue Period”. “Blue” was to symbolize the “. . . suffering-frequently hunger and cold, the hardships he experienced while attempting to establish himself.” By 1905, his “Rose” or “Circus Period” was beginning and also later that year, his paintings reflected a growing interest in African masks. By 1907, Pablo Picasso painted what is regarded as his first masterpiece and as the first Cubist painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

Although Pablo Picasso said: “I think about Death all the time. She is the only woman who never leaves me.” His relationships with women influenced much of his artwork. It is thought that his switch from “Blue” to “Rose” or from depression to happiness was a result of meeting Fernande Olivier. She was allegedly his first serious female relationship and he lived with her for seven years. From the time he met her, Pablo Picasso did numerous portraits of wives, children and mistresses.

In 1908, Pablo Picasso began working in Paris with Georges Braque. They worked together until the beginning of World War I in 1914. During this period, they created collages and the first phase of Cubism that included still life and portraits. They worked so closely together that many scholars are unable to tell some of their work apart or to determine which of them contributed certain concepts.