Picasso − for eternity

Pablo Picasso's oeuvre is estimated at around 50,000 works of art. It includes paintings, drawings, collages, sculptures and also ceramics, mainly from the post-war period. Picasso was born in 1881 in Málaga, Spain, and studied at an art academy at the age of 14. At 19, he traveled for the first time to Paris, where he would later live and change the art world forever. Together with Georges Braque, he is considered the inventor of Cubism and advanced to legend during his lifetime. Picasso never rested on his successes, his work is characterized by experimentation and constant reinvention. Even in his old age, he broke new ground with ceramic art.

Picasso was as much a famous artist as a difficult character who had an ambivalent relation especially to women. Receptions of the last years let Picasso stand as a person more differentiated: As someone who changed as a result of his success - into a man who was dependent on always being surrounded by new, young women who testified to his masculinity and belied his aging.

Many refer to 2023 as »the Picasso year«. Dozens of exhibitions will focus on aspects of the painter whose life serves as a model for countless art practitioners. Recently, the ALBERTINA in Vienna opened an exhibition that aims to depict the full range of Picasso's work. A sculpture embodying Picasso's corpse caused a sensation at the ARCO art fair in Madrid in February: even 50 years after his death, Picasso remains an enduring theme in art.