Pablo Picasso's early life was a fascinating journey of artistic development and exploration, setting the stage for his later revolutionary contributions to modern art. Born on October 25, 1881, in Málaga, Spain, Picasso was the first child of Don José Ruiz y Blasco, a painter and art professor, and María Picasso y López. The family was of middle-class background, with his father specializing in naturalistic depictions of birds and other game. Picasso's talent for drawing manifested early, and from the age of seven, he received formal artistic training from his father, focusing on figure drawing and oil painting (Wikipedia) (Pablo Picasso).
The Picasso family moved to La Coruña in 1892, where Pablo's father became a professor at the School of Fine Arts. Pablo was admitted to the advanced class at just 13 years of age after impressing the jury with his abilities. His early works included portraits of his family and exhibited a naturalistic manner. The death of his younger sister, Conchita, in 1895 was a significant emotional blow for Picasso, leading the family to move to Barcelona, a city that would become deeply significant to him throughout his life. In Barcelona, Picasso's father secured a position at its School of Fine Arts, and Pablo was quickly admitted to the academy thanks to his impressive skills (Pablo Picasso).
Seeking further artistic development, Picasso moved to Madrid in 1897 to attend the Royal Academy of San Fernando, Spain's top art school at the time. However, Picasso found the formal instruction stifling and quickly abandoned the classes, though he remained deeply engaged with the art world, drawing inspiration from the works of Diego Velázquez, Rembrandt, and El Greco, among others, housed in the Prado Museum (Pablo Picasso).
Picasso's move to Paris in 1900, alongside his friend Carlos Casagemas, marked the beginning of a new phase in his life. Paris was the epicenter of the art world, and it was there that Picasso began to establish himself as a significant figure in the artistic community, frequenting the Louvre and setting up his first studio. The suicide of Casagemas in 1901 deeply affected Picasso, leading to a period of work characterized by a haunting reflection on his friend's death (Pablo Picasso).
Throughout his early life, Picasso demonstrated an incredible capacity for artistic innovation and a relentless drive to explore new styles and techniques. These formative years laid the foundation for his later work, which would forever change the landscape of modern art (Wikipedia) (Pablo Picasso).