Pablo Picasso: Most Influential Artist Of The 20th Century

Picasso painted for himself, as a release from the pressures of his society and as a way to express his thoughts and problems in tangible form. For this reason, the events happening around the time of any Picasso work must be understood before the true meaning of any resulting art can be understood.

During this time Pablo Picasso was sympathetic and painted many canvas’ depicting the sorrows of the unfortunate, the ill and those who were rejected by society. The old man holds a large guitar. The brown colour of the guitar represents that it is the only alteration in colour. The old man is unaware of his misery as he plays the guitar. ‘The old guitarist’ consists of many elements and principles. Pablo Picasso has painted this artwork in a light but deep blue (known as the blue period), the blue in this artwork represents depression and sadness, the guitar being the only change in colour of this artwork as it is brown, symbolises how music can be relaxing and helps the old man through his misery. The old man’s hand points towards the guitar as well as his head, this creates a sense of direction, making the focal point the guitar. Picasso has used shapes such as rectangles and squares in the background. The balance of the old man mainly consists of asymmetric balance, as one side of the composition does not reflect the other side. The entire artwork is over thrown with a cool blue colour except for the brown guitar being

The guitar is the only part of the picture that isn’t some kind of grey or blue. The guitar is almost like a crutch to the man making it seem like it is the only thing holding him up. The painting stands out and captures the viewer even though its colors are dull. Picasso was the best at balancing the dark shades just enough so they didn’t run together. This painting is one of the most depressing paintings of all time. The walls are very dark and give a cold depressing feel. They seem like a jail cell holding the man captive. He cannot escape the dark colors that surround him just like he cannot escape the harsh world. The sky looks endless like there is no tomorrow coming. It also seems like there has never been a sun to warm the lands in this painting. Picasso mixed the colors

The years of 1901 to 1904 were known as the "blue period" because of the blue tonality of Picasso's paintings. During this period, he would spend his days in Paris studying the masterworks at the Louvre and his nights enjoying the company of fellow artists at cabarets. 1905 and 1906 marked a radical change in color and mood for Picasso. He became fascinated with the acrobats, clowns and wandering families of the circus world. He started to paint in subtle pinks and greys, often highlighted with brighter tones. This was known as his "rose period." In 1907, Picasso painted "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," considered the watershed picture of the twentieth century, and met Georges Braque, the other leading artist of the Cubist movement. Cubism was equally the creation of Picasso and Braque and from 1911 to 1913, the two men were in frequent contact.

However, Picasso made it evident that he was a gifted artist when he introduced the world to his own style of painting during what was known as "Picasso's Blue Period." The Blue Period marked a time in Picasso's career from 1901-1904 that defined the different real-life experiences that he had been exposed to throughout his life. It is rumored that Picasso's blue period began briefly after the death of a close friend, and the blue tones were used to reflect his feelings of bleakness during that time (GME, 1996). Most of his paintings during the blue period consisted of blind, impoverished, despaired people, and the paintings were done mostly in blue tones. One of the most famous pieces created during the period was called "The Old Guitarist," which depicts a saddened, blind, old man holding his guitar.

Guernica is monochromatic to make its imagery more powerful. Lack of color keeps the viewer focused on the subject matter at hand, as well as keeping the mural cold, which agrees with its general theme of injustice in war. Also, Picasso’s flat imagery does not distract the viewer from concentrating on imagery. The viewer is given no other choice than to concentrate on the subject matter of Guernica and ponder it’s meaning. The flat, grayscale images generalize the imagery and contribute to the general theme of unnecessary suffering and tragedy.

This paintings colour scheme helps convey great amounts of grief, and the use of oils on canvas creates a theatrical and moody tone. Picasso also adds colour to this painting by painting the guitar a warm earthy colour which heavily contrasts with the dark moody blues. The colour of this guitar shows the hope it brings to the old man, which may be representing Picasso’s relationship with art during this

Picasso during The Blue Period was heavily influenced by what happens around him. Right before the beginning of The Blue Period, Picasso heard of Carlos Casagemas suicide. Carlos was a good friend of Picasso and recalled “I started painting in blue when I learned of Casagemas's death”. Nick and Picasso share an interesting parial with the death of one of their friends. Nick’s and Picasso’s worlds changed color and become a blue dark mess of despair and sadness. Nick turned to alcohol and Picasso painted some of the most depressing paintings ever know to

Here Colesscott has developed Picasso’s abstraction and ‘Africanism’ in line with European influences. Colescott has made this famous image his own, in terms of color and content, whilst still making his inspiration clear. Picasso’s borrowing of the original art piece allowed him to remodel the painting into one that contains a different interpretation of society, context, colors and formal expressions. Picasso saw the strength and valuable assets in the original painting and stole them into his own like an artist, making use of the best features and enhancing them through his own

There is little sign of life about the man, his shoulders are bony and his pose cramped, as if to show that he finds no ease in the world around him. In 1905 close to the ending of his Blue Period Picasso decided to move back to Paris. It was here that he met Fernande Oliver and eventually fell in love with her. Picasso’s paintings took a drastic change. He went from painting beggars and outcast to happy, healthy circus performers and families. It was obvious that Picasso’s first love had a tremendous effect on his art. Picasso’s paintings no longer consisted of blue tones but instead took on more delicate rose tones. Fernande Oliver reflected his work and his happiness. One of Picasso’s best works linked his Blue and Rose Period was The Frugal Repast. The painting had a beautiful healthy looking woman being embraced by a long dirty, hungry man. Picasso felt this way about Fernande Oliver. He pictured himself as a poverty stricken man who was lucky enough to be with a beautiful woman. From the time 1905 to 1906 Picasso entered the Rose Period. Subtle pinks and grays with even brighter tones were the colors Picasso used. Some people also believed the warm tones of this period were influence by Picasso’s habit of smoking opium (Ripley 101). Picasso was fascinated with clowns, acrobats, and other families of the

The people back in the 19th century really didn’t accept Van Gaogh’s truthful and emotionally morbid way of expressing the way of art is to himself. It finally was seen as art through the people’s eyes. This set a stage of art that is now known as Expressionism. It is best characterized by the use of symbols and a style that expresses the artist’s inner feelings about his subject. His style of painting is exemplified by a projection of the painter’s inner experience onto the canvas he paints on. Van Gogh’s paintings are done with his feelings that goes on in his life. (Mark Harden’s Artchive)

Michelangelo copied some of the stances and positions of Greek sculptures in order to reveal the beauty and strength of the human figure. He created sculptures that expressed intellectual and spiritual ideas.

Picasso portrays this old man as being sad and impoverished, but in contrast, he depicts the old man's guitar as being bright symbolizing it as a beacon of hope for the guitarist. The overall theme of this painting is one of sorrow and loneliness. To begin, a majority of the colors used in this painting are different variations of blue including, the background, the man's clothes, and even the old man himself. In addition to this the old man appears to be sitting alone, the outline of his body, along with his guitar, takes up a majority of the painting leaving little room for a background. Picasso decided to leave the background plain and place a few large horizontal stripes mainly towards the bottom of the painting, in shades of blue like the rest of the painting.

Picasso uses texture and an array of complementary and analogous colors characterized by a range of hues, values, and light to create a dramatic difference between the two subjects. The dominant and repetitive colors in the painting are green, yellow, lavender, red, and blue. The use of color, especially when used with the different geometric shapes, creates both a range of values as well as contrasts to adjacent areas. The profile and frontal head have lighter values such as yellow and lavender, whereas the reflection, painted with a rough charcoal texture has a dominance of blue, especially around the face, reflecting darker values. The use of complementary colors such as red and green create a brighter canvas, while the use of analogous combinations such as green and yellow, and green and blue blend well together. Overall, the reds and greens are bright throughout, giving intensity to the painting while the use of soft blue in the reflection, is not as intense and warm. Picasso also uses complementary colors of red and green against lavender in the figure to make the figure prominent. In the reflection, analogous colors are used throughout, but predominately on the top with purple

Pablo Picasso - His Life and His Art Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, painter, sculptor, and printmaker, was born in Malaga Spain on October 25, 1881 and died on April 8, 1973.Today he is considered to be one of the most influential and successful artists in history. Picasso contributed many things to 19th century and modern day art and his name is familiar to all those involved in the many different fields of art. Throughout the seven decades that Picasso produced artwork he used many different types of media. In each piece of art he produced he searched for new possibilities, invented images in them, and reflected events that were occurring in his world through his artwork. Picasso had many artistic influences in his life, including Cézanne,