October 25

“Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.” … October 25 is the birthdate of Pablo Picasso, artist in many media. Born in Malaga, Spain, near Gibraltar, his father was a professor of drawing who raised him for a career in academic art. Picasso had his first exhibit at age 13 and later quit art school to study painters including El Greco. In 1900 he went to Paris, the art capital of Europe, where he would spend much of his life, and by 1905 his art was favored by American collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein. His early work is renowned for its “periods” (1901 through 1919) – the Blue Period followed by the Rose, the African-influenced and two phases of Cubism. Pictured: The scandalous “Les Demoiselles d'Avignon” (1907), which embraced Primitivism, abandoned perspective and began a revolution in modern art.