The life of Pablo Picasso is impregnated by events which seem to have the force of allegory, “ adding a dimension of semi- mythical significance “ to an almost superhuman existence. Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain on 25^th October, 1881. The baby was thought to be still- born and the infant Picasso wouldn’t have drawn breath except not for his uncle, a doctor by profession. Picasso was told the story repeatedly during his childhood and must have been preserved in the “baroque recesses “of his imagination, which later found ex-pression in such paintings as the bull fight and the tortured Christ figures in Catalan churches. Must be, it also contributed to Picasso’s lifelong dread of sickness and disease, which was the pendant to his unquenchable lust for life.

It is said that “the child is indeed the father to the man “and in case of Picasso’s artistic ex-pressions, this was no exception. At that time, an orthodox art institution that existed in Spain was no place to catch up with the artistic and political liberalism, which imported from England and France, was inciting young Spaniards to doubt the values of an absolutist church and state. The such rebel, that was within Picasso , prompted him to paint “ Science and Charity “. Though not adventurous in subject or dealing, this painting shows a command of mood, composition and technique far ahead of the artist’s years. Today, it hangs prominently in the Museo Picasso, Barcelona. 

The genius for portraiture belonged to him from childhood, at the Museo Picasso in Barcelona, the sketch books reveal an unerring understanding of his subjects, as evident in such portraits as the “ Three Dancers “ . Picasso’s first portrait of his former love and wife to be, the ballet dancer Olga Koklova was a naturalistic portrait in oils- the classic principles of form and line co existed with whatever style preoccupied him at any particular time.

In the first “analytical “phase of the Cubist revolution, Picasso used low tones which though gave the illusion of strong color, placed so as to crystallize or fragment volume. For example, in “The Girl with a Mandolin “, painted in 1910, the elements of the subject are taken apart and reassembled in ways that focus attention on the instrument, the player’s stance relative to it, her lidded eye and her sex. Likewise is the painting “Demoiselles “where the face of the woman still bears the mask- like character.

In 1913, Picasso entered into his second or “synthetic “Cubist phase, in which he reintroduces color applied as a flat surface. The “Violin Hanging on The Wall “of 1913 is such an instance. The “Still life with Fruit “achieves credibility by a harmonious conjunction of colors, curves and accents, rendering perspective irrelevant. Picasso reached the high water mark of the “synthetic “Cubist period in the two brilliant paintings known as “The Three Musicians “and “The three cornered hat “. The “Mother and Child “ of 1921 has a rough hewn , monumental quality which puts it amongst the most impressive paintings of the period. Picasso’ mastery of space extends to his creating his own illusion of it, instantly contradicting rational objections, as is evident in “The Guitar and the Mandolin “. In the “Woman Asleep in a Red Armchair “, sometimes known as the “Dream “, Picasso made explicit in his treatment of the tilted head exactly what the sleeper is dreaming about. The etching “Minotauromachia “is one of the most powerful works in any medium. In yet another world renowned painting “Guernica “, Picasso expressed his horror at the military caste which had “plunged Spain into a sea of suffering and death “. The painting moves in one galvanic surge from right to left, from a woman falling from a burning home to the bull in the doorway. The center is dominated by a horse, Picasso’s habitual symbol for passive suffering, transfixed and in pain, but uttering defiance from its gasping mouth. From the ceiling an electric light bulb, disguised as the sun, casts on the scene a mechanical glare. Picasso’s reaction to inhumanity and the callousness of war is also evident in “The Charnel House “. Like “Guernica “, it is without color, unlike “Guernica “it is also without symbolism. It makes a categorical statement “what men have done to other men, reducing them to offal “. His other world- class paintings include “The Women of Algiers “, “Las Meninas “etc.

The images Picasso left to us have imprinted themselves on our inner eye. As time passes by, they will work their way into our thoughts and understandings. This is because they are not figments or inventions, but truths, may be “Picasso’s images may not look like us now, but they will…”