Pablo Picasso: The prolific Spanish artist who revolutionized modern art

Pablo Picasso was a prolific Spanish artist who played a central role in defining 20th-century modern art. Over a career spanning seven decades, he produced more than 140,000 works, including over 13,500 paintings, 100,000 prints and engravings, and numerous sculptures and ceramics.

As a co-founder of Cubism alongside Georges Braque, Picasso revolutionized painting through various influences such as Neoclassicism, African art, and Surrealism. His 1937 mural, ‘Guernica’, remains one of the most significant anti-war artworks in history. The piece was originally displayed at the 1937 Paris International Exposition and was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for forty years before returning to Spain in 1981, where it is now housed in the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid.

Born in Spain, Picasso showed early artistic talent, studying at institutions such as the Escola de Belles Arts da Guarda and the Escola de Belles Arts de La Llotja in Barcelona. He also studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, where he frequented the Museo del Prado.