#5 Pablo Picasso — A Messed up Man or the Most Extraordinary Mind to Have Existed?
The Greatest Artist of the Art World was not so Great in the Real One
Today we will learn about the twisted tale of one of the greatest artists: Pablo Picasso.
Pablo Picasso needs no introduction. His work has been a source of inspiration for artists for years now. People with good taste in art spend millions of dollars to get their hands on his artwork.
People fail to see that Picasso was not as grand as they think he was. He was a human, and for that matter, a messed up one.
Throughout his life, there were many controversies which still make art critics question: Can art be separated from the artist?
A Unique Vision of the World
The people familiar with the work of Picasso know that his paintings are somewhat chaotic. Whatever he portrays on the canvas is either out of order or deformed in one way or the other.
Many fail to understand that Picasso saw the world the way he painted it on the canvas. They were not just imaginary pieces of art for him but the portrayal of the world from his eyes.
Picasso had dyslexia, a condition which led to mental disability. A dyslexic person unusually views everything; even when they try to read something, the letters become disoriented. His work became a source of inspiration for many artistsof his time and those that came after.
In his early life, he struggled to keep up with school. Due to his condition, which the doctors could not identify at the time, little could be done about it. His teachers often punished him because of his failed attempts in the academic world.
Even during his punishments, he would take a notebook and draw things on paper. His father then encouraged him to join an art school where he could learn something he was good at. It turned out that he did not need schooling for his interest; instead, he would bunk classes to go out in the city and paint the views in front of him in ways no one understood.
The ‘Blue’ and ‘Rose’ Episode of Inspiration
Picasso’s paintings were also a depiction of his own emotions and feelings. During the time he painted, there came many phases which clearly explained the mental state he was in. For instance, from 1901 to 1904 was a ‘Blue Period’ of Picasso’s work. At this time, whatever he painted had intense blue tones of colours.
As blue is a cold colour, it is the depiction of being distant and depressed. The prominent blue tone of his paintings showed that he was going through a depressive phase for reasons which are still unknown.
Between his blue period, Picasso moved to France. There, he found new inspirations and his work completely transformed. It was the start of the ‘Rose Period’ of his career in which Picasso created some of his most impressive works. The paintings during this phase had warmer tones, prominently pink, the colour of calm and love.
When Picasso went through his bipolar episodes, he created art. Art was a source of calmness for his soul. He said that art works as medicine; it allows individuals to connect with the world, and people can express themselves through their art.
A Narcissistic Man who Destroyed the Lives of Many
Picasso, along with being a great artist, was a womanizer. He took pride in the fact that he treated women like some material that he could use and get rid of.
During his lifetime and career, he had had many women, but none of them spent a happy life. All of them ended up in misery one way or the other.
He dominated the women in his life and proved his fertility by impregnating them. Once they became pregnant, he would get furious as he believed that bearing children makes women proud and independent.
As a child, Picasso was exposed to brothels. His father, who was also an artist, would take him along on every visit to the brothel, where he watched the women do forbidden things for money.
Some people believe that exposure to the rotten side of the world at such a young age may have affected his anticipation of women.
Picasso said,
“I believe women are only two kinds: goddesses or doormats.”
A Menace to Everyone he Loved
Picasso had many women during his lifetime; four of them are the most prominent ones. The first one is Olga Khokhlora, Picasso’s first wife, who was an independent woman, and a renowned Russian ballet dancer.
She had a nervous breakdown when she was with Picasso, and they had a divorce after that. The next woman was Dora Maar, another independent woman who was a highly regarded photographer. She, too, had a nervous breakdown when she was in a relationship with Picasso.
This does not end here. Marie Thèrése Walther, Picasso’s mistress, and Jacqueline Roque both died of suicide, leaving the pit hole of suspicions that they were not in a good mental state because of Picasso. He had a habit of discarding women when he got bored of them.
His granddaughter, Marina Picasso, wrote a memoir on him named, ‘Picasso: My Grandfather,’ in which she described his misogynistic behaviour and thinking. She wrote, “He submitted them to his animal sexuality, tamed them, bewitched them, and crushed them onto his canvas. After he spent many nights extracting their essence… he would dispose of them….”
The memoir recognised the women of Picasso’s life who didn’t get appreciated for their part in inspiring him to paint such fabulous artwork.
Abusive and Destructive Behavior that Affected many Lives
Picasso was not only a misogynist but also an abusive person who affected the lives of his wives, children, and even grandchildren. Every person he ever got close to ended up with depression.
At first, he would cherish the women he fell for and found inspiration in them for his work. As soon as he got bored of them, he would start traumatising them with his actual mentality. He had four children from three different women.
The two children were from a French painter named Francois Gilot, whom he met in 1943 when they started to date. They named the children Claude and Paloma.
They were together for ten years when things finally returned to the same pattern as Picasso’s previous relationships. Years after the end of the relationship, she wrote a memoir called ‘Life with Picasso.’ Picasso tried to stop the publication, but he was unsuccessful.
The memoir sold over a million copies, and in retaliation, Picasso cut off all ties with his children and removed their names from his will.
All the money that came from the publication’s success went into legal formalities for Francois to get her children what they deserved and that they were the legal heir to the fortune.
In the end, Picasso’s granddaughter, Marina, took advantage of all the money and whatever Picasso left behind.
Without a doubt, Picasso is and will be a legendary artist. His work would continue to be an inspiration till the end, but he as a person can never be an inspiration for anyone. So if art can truly be separated from the artist, Picasso’s art would persist as an example till eternity.