Portrait of an Artist: Picasso Quiz

Answer: Ruiz

Pablo Picasso was born Pablo Ruiz, after his father Don José Ruiz Blasco, but chose to be called by his mother's maiden name Picasso because of its appeal as a 'rare' name. Picasso's father was a painter in his own right, albeit a mediocre one (or so I'm told), and an art teacher. Little Pablo began working as an artist from a very young age, encouraged by his father.

Answer: Málaga

On October 25, 1881, Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga, Spain, where his father was working. Later, the family moved to Coruña and from there to Barcelona, the cultural center of Cataluña. There Pablo's art talents bloomed.

Answer: Blue Period

Pablo's 'Blue Period' was characterized by melancholy but beautiful paintings that were all, well, blue. The inspiration for this early period in his artistic career was the suicide death of his friend Carlos Casagemas. One of Picasso's early celebrated works is 'The Death of Carlos Casagemas', the immortalization of his ill-fated friend who, because of his impotence, decided to end his life.

His Rose Period and Negro Period followed in succession after the Blue Period. The Holocene Period is the geological period of time within which we live!

Answer: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

The 'Demoiselles' in question were prostitutes, but the controversy did not stem from this fact. Rather it was the unorthodox style employed by Picasso to create this painting. Many of Picasso's close friends and supporters even questioned the validity of this 'primitivist' piece. Picasso had taken elements of African art and combined them with ingredients from recent Cézanne paintings to create this first 'Cubist' work.

Answer: Georges Braque

Braque, a native French painter, was actually one of the critics of the 'Demoiselles', but seems to have come around to the new Cubist style, actually surpassing Picasso in his innovations during the early period of the Analytical Cubist style. The link between Picasso and Braque was broken after several years of partnership at the advent of World War I.

Answer: Olga Kokhlova

Olga was the daughter of a Russian general and member of Sergei Diaghilev's 'Ballet Russes'. Prior to Olga, Picasso had long standing affairs with two other women, Fernande Olivier and Marcelle Humbert (Eva). Saddened by Eva's sudden cancer death in 1915, Picasso was hungry for companionship and Olga filled this void.

This marriage lasted until the early 1930s, when Picasso found a new, young mistress named Marie-Thérèse Walter, who bore him his first child, Maia. Gertrude Stein was a friend of Picasso's during his early Paris years, but can you imagine the two of them having been married?!

Answer: Dora Maar

Dora Maar was said to have cried a lot during the years she spent with Picasso, hence inspiring the famous 'La femme qui pleure' (The Crying Woman). Maar died in 1997 at the age of 90, and left an interesting collection of Picasso works as her legacy. Toklas was the lover of Gertrude Stein, I thought it would be fun to include her as a wrong choice too...

Answer: Guernica

Guernica, a town in the Basque stronghold of northern Spain, was bombed during the Spanish Civil War by Franco's German allies. The 'Guernica' mural depicts well the horror and chaos that was caused by the bombings of that hitherto peaceful town, and illustrates Picasso's social conscience. Picasso's other works of conscience include 'The Charnel House' (commemorating WW2 concentration camps) and 'Massacre in Korea' (anti-Korean war painting).

Answer: Communism

Picasso was a supporter of the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War, but sadly saw the government fall to the forces of Fascism. This combined with the horrors committed by the Fascist dictators in both Germany and Italy convinced Picasso to enlist in the growing international Communist movement. Picasso remained sympathetic with international Communism for the remainder of his life, even despite growing awareness of the atrocities committed by Stalin's government in the Soviet Union.

Answer: True

Picasso lived from 1881 until 1973, when he died at the age of 91. He left behind a wife, Jacqueline Roque, and several children, including Claude and Paloma who were borne to him by another lover, Françoise Gilot. His life will be remembered by us as one of endless creativity, political awareness and activism, and sexual proclivities. Whether or not you like his work, you must admit his influence on the world of art was enormous. Thank you for trying this quiz!