“We all know that art is not the truth, art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.”

Pablo Picasso

What defines a hero? Is it the amount of lives saved? Might it be the number of burning buildings entered? Some might think it’s the number of empires conquered. These are some excellent qualities when it comes to qualifying someone as a hero. But, what about the historical figures who weren’t conquerors in a physical sense? What about the heroes who risked their livelihood and took the risk of pushing the envelope? What about men like Howard Hughes or Thomas Edison who didn’t carry a sword or gun but sacrificed time and money to make this world a little different or better? This is the type of hero I am going to discuss today. His name is Pablo Picasso. Some might say he goes down in history as one of the greatest artists of all time. I agree. He was also more than an artist. He was a man of vision who took chances with his brush, a man who risked everything for change and succeeded.

Born on October 25th in 1881 to painter Don Jose Ruiz Blasco and Dona Maria Picasso Y Lopez, it seemed like Pablo Ruiz Blasco (Picasso) was destined for greatness. He was raised in Malaga with the confidence of a good mother. As a matter of fact, Picasso sheds some light on his mother’s confidence in him with something he said of her,

“When I was a child, my mother said to me; “If you become a soldier, you”ll be a general, if you become a priest, you’ll end up as the Pope.’ Instead I became a painter and I wound up as Picasso.”2

He appears a fine reflection of what happens when children are instilled with confidence by their parents.

This upbringing gave him the strength to start creative endeavors at a very young age. He painted his first oil painting in 1889 at the age of eight. By the time he was eleven, he had the artistic talents of an adult artist.3 Does this make Picasso a hero though? Well, I can say that it looks like the makings of a hero. Most children his age aren’t interested in painting and drawing and this makes Pablo unique as a child. Even to this day we have only heard of a small handful of child prodigies throughout the history of mankind such as this man.

1893 marks the date of Azul Y Blanco, a magazine that Pablo writes and illustrates. By 1896, Pablo’s work, The First Communion , is displayed at the Fine Arts and Industry Exhibition in Barcelona.2 One can only assume the amount of courage it took to muster as a teenager to display your work in one of the best shows in Spain at the time. A showing is an intimidating process. The whole world gets to see your heart on a medium. Showing your work is like standing in the display window at Macy’s naked.

It would be quite an event to be able to travel through Pablo Picasso’s creative mind.

In his younger years alone, Pablo Picasso did what most only dream of doing their whole lives. He created a magazine, his work was already displayed and he studies at the Insituto De Guarda. The beginning of this man’s life should be a template for parents who have children with special talents to follow. If it weren’t for his parents, he may never have become the man that he became and the artist he is known as today.

If the work of his younger years is examined, one can see a major sense of realism in every medium he uses. It goes without saying that he isn’t known for this style but it does teach something vital when it comes to any type of craft. Picasso had a foundation to work with so that he could look at his later masterpieces from an experienced and intelligent standpoint. Without this foundation, he might only be known as another artist of this century. But, the thought and process taken for his later work needed the foundation that he built in his younger years.

By 1897, there are some small hints of work that point to his later developed style. Autoportrait, a conte pencil drawing reminds us of something the great Russian-Jewish artist Marc Chagall might create. Bergers, created in 1898, also gives the viewer a sense of what might be running through the mind of this great thinker and what may come out onto canvas in the future. Observe that his work increased dramatically from over 30 pieces in 1897 to over 90 in 1898. He created over 160 pieces in his eighteenth year.3

According to the same website, by 1902, Picasso was a part of a literary group titled Valhalla but nick named “Guayaba” by the group. This group included Eugenio D’Ors whose most well known for writing on art and his collection of essays Glosari.

I wanted to bring this out to show that Picasso wasn’t afraid of trying new things and this translated into his work later. He was a daring man who, I think, had one thing in mind. This was to make absolutely sure that he had no regrets because he didn’t try something that he thought about trying. This is the definition of courage. Anyone can do what they are comfortable with but it takes a certain amount of fortitude and daring to decide to do what you might not know. He is quoted as saying the following,

“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”1

As Picasso grows more comfortable in his own skin and surrounded himself with great artists, his work becomes more marked and improved. His development of style becomes apparent starting in 1901, with the Blue Period. 1905 is known as the Rose Period for Picasso. This period moves into his work Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), into the beginning of Cubism. The Analytic phase (ca. 1908-11), through its Synthetic phase (beginning in 1912-13) was the beginning of what Picasso became most well known for, according to most critics.4 This period is where one starts to see great works such as La mandoliniste assise and The Guitarist There is a marked fascination with instruments in this period which is a natural flow into the period where he worked with ballet and theatrical production. After this, his work is characterized by neo-classicism and figurative work.4

The persistence of Picasso and his work ethic alone support my claim that he goes down in history as a hero of art. But, one doesn’t have to believe me to consider an artist a hero. Let’s look at some outside evidence. TIME magazines top 100 artists consider Pablo Picasso one of the greatest to ever live. I noticed that Picasso is the cover story two times in TIME magazine, February 13th, 1939 and May 26th, 1980.5 I wonder how many other people in history have graced the cover of TIME twice? TIME art critic Robert Hughes writes the following,

“Famous as no artist ever had been, he was a pioneer, a master and a protean monster, with a hand in every art movement of the century. . . No painter before him had had a mass audience in his own lifetime. . . No painter or sculptor, not even Michelangelo, had been as famous as this in his own lifetime. And it is quite possible that none ever will be again, now that the mandate to set forth social meaning, to articulate myth and generate widely memorable images has been so largely transferred from painting and sculpture to other media: photography, movies, television.”6

Are heroes perfect? I would say no. Pablo was not the greatest father to his children. He was a womanizer. He actually had no real respect for his wives. One infamous quote he made of “women being goddesses or doormats” is not the most appreciated quote in the history of mankind. There was really no nobility when it comes to defining his character. He was a staunch supporter of Stalin, which, many may not agree with in this day considering the horrors the Russian leader committed. Suffice it to say, his passions sometime found themselves spilling off of the canvas and into his personal life.

Yet, if we remove his person from the picture, his work is so powerful and cutting edge that he must be considered a hero or pioneer in the art world. Today, his art is sold at auctions for tens of millions of dollars. His work can be seen in cities around the world. And, after all, give me a hero you can think of and I will find plenty of flaws in him or her as well. Let’s examine some contributions this unbalanced genius made to the art world and to Spain.

1914 signifies the beginning of the Surrealist Cubism art movement and Picasso is once again a pioneer of this movement. This around where Salvador Dali comes into the picture. Although one of his true loves Eva is very sick, he overcomes this trying time and continues to work. This is important to note because we must come to an understanding that it takes a certain strength to stay a hero after you become one and Picasso overcame many things, mostly himself, to become the artistic hero that he is today.

He continues his work even though WW I is happening all around him and this only fuels his passion to paint. Over this period, he creates well over 1500 works and refines his style of Cubism with more sedentary works such as stills and portraits. What kind of man works under these conditions and doesn’t deserve the right to be called hero?

By 1924, Pablo is working with two styles, “biomorphism” and surrealism’.7 He contributes to his previous “blue period” as well. If one is a careful observer, he or she may notice that Picasso is on the cutting edge of artistic movements through the 1900’s. This fact bolsters his commencement of artistic hero of the century.

What about his actual contributions to Spain? Surely, an artist can’t have much to say concerning political issues and such, can he? Actually, the fine arts have been a means to express political issues in the world throughout history. The great surrealist Marc Chagall is an excellent example of this expression. For example, in 1938 Chagall painted White Crucifixion. This was a cry of mans’ inhumanity to man. With the Spanish Civil War and thousands of being moved to concentration camps by the Nazis, this work screams for help from someone or something and Picasso did the same thing with Guernica.8

Design Principles and Problems tells us that Guernica is dated in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. Page 24 states as quoted,

“Viewing Picasso’s Guernica, people tend to walk toward it until it fills their vision and then to stop. It will not let them come any closer, but at this point, it is all encompassing, deeply affecting viewers with a sense of horror at the inhumanity of war.”9

Pablo Picasso was not only a pioneer in painting; he stood against the atrocities of war. He watched his own people engage in civil war and kill each other and he screams in disgust at their actions with this painting. Look at it. Even the terror in the faces of innocent animals creates revulsion in the heart of humanity. I have not found a greater work that portrays the sickness and disease of war.

The woman and child on the left hand side of the painting is the most disturbing. In an age of mass media, these people are almost never portrayed in war. The innocents are left without a voice throughout history but Picasso gives them one in Guernica. The creative genius is enough to make Pablo Picasso a hero of our time. However, it’s messages like this one that earn him the title and respect of hero.

“When I paint, my object is to show what I have found and not what I am looking for.” (p. 45)10

On April 8th, 1973, Pablo Picasso dies of a heart attack as a result of pulmonary edema. The online Picasso Project states the following,

“The total output of Picasso’s artistic career has been given different estimates: “50,000 works of art, including 1,885 paintings; 1,228 sculptures; 2,880 ceramics; 18,095 engravings; 6,112 lithographs; and approximately 12,000 drawings, as well as numerous linocuts, tapestries, and rugs, not to mention his letters, poetry and plays”” (cf. Selfridge 1994, 102).11

At this very moment, Picassos’ work is showing in 38 galleries from Asia to Europe and from Europe to the United States. I believe that I can safely say that no artist in the world is showing in 38 galleries across the world including the likes of Monet, Degas or Dali. Staying power is important in the art world but when it comes to the duration of staying power, Picasso wins hands down.