Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The first person to artistically influence Pablo Picasso was his father, José
Ruiz Blasco, who had privately studied with Spanish painter José Garcia
Chicano as a child. When Pablo got older, he worked as a drawing
teacher’s assistant at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Málaga —
specifically, in the discipline of lineal drawing and decoration. He was also
appointed the curator of the Municipal Museum of Málaga.
El Greco moved to Rome in 1570 and stayed there until 1576, when he
began working in the palace of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. In 1572, El
Greco joined the painters’ academy and established a studio, but he was
widely unsuccessful — most likely due to his criticism of Michelangelo’s
artistic abilities, which was something that the Roman art establishment did
not approve of. Finally, in 1576, El Greco left Rome and settled in Toledo,
Spain, where he remained until his death.
During his time as a painter of the court, Velázquez had the opportunity to
learn from great artists such as Peter Paul Reubens. One of Velázquez’s
notable works from that period was The Triumph of Bacchus. In 1629,
Velázquez traveled to Italy and spent 18 months there; when he returned to
Madrid, he painted a series of portraits of the royal family on horseback.
From 1649 to 1651, Velázquez spent some more time in Italy and painted a
portrait of Pope Innocent X, which is considered one of his finest portraits.
In 1956, Velázquez painted his most famous masterpiece, Las Meninas.
Picasso was one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, but his
greatness did not come from himself only. As Sir Isaac Newton once said,
“If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” It
seems that Picasso also had his own giants — El Greco and Velázquez.