PABLO PICASSO ~ October 25, 1881 ~ April 8, 1973

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Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. He is best known for co-founding the Cubist movement and for the wide variety of styles embodied in his work. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937), his portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

Picasso demonstrated uncanny artistic talent in his early years, painting in a realistic manner through his childhood and adolescence; during the first decade of the twentieth century his style changed as he experimented with different theories, techniques, and ideas. His revolutionary artistic accomplishments brought him universal renown and immense fortunes throughout his life, making him the best-known figure in twentieth century art.

Text:wikipedia.com

No doubt, Picasso (note his extraordinarily long name) was indeed a great artist. Unlike Stravinsky, however, who continued to expand his musical horizons and work in new forms until the end of his life (though, I find it ironic that Stravinsky waited for Arnold Schoenberg to die before adopting twelve-tone serialism), Picasso, I feel, became a parody of himself and turned out rubbish in his later years to make a fortune from merely signing his name. Picasso died just a few weeks before I moved to San Francisco.