Picasso was more than just a great painter and there is much about his life that still remains unknown to most of the world even today! Here is a list of 10 things that you may have not known about the Picasso.
1. In addition to being a talented painter, Picasso was also one of the world's most versatile stage designers, ceramic artists, printmakers and sculptors and writers. He could have made a name for himself in any of these areas but chose to focus on painting.
2. Although famous today, Picasso had a tough start and suffered under conditions of great poverty. When he was a young painter, Picasso burned his own paintings in order to keep warm at night.
3. Picasso also produced 100,000 engravings and 34,000 illustrations for books. His ceramic and sculpture designs account for 300 pieces.
4. Some of Picasso's paintings are today considered to be very valuable and almost priceless. In 2004, his original 'Garcon a la Pipe' was bought by a collector for $104 million USD. The beautiful 'Les Noces de Pierrette' or the 'Marriage of Pierrette' brought in $51.6 million US.
5. In 1944 Picasso began a torrid love affair with Francoise Gilot, one of his art students, but it ended nine years later because he cheated on her.
6. At age 72, Picasso suffered a deep depression and to calm himself and find peace, he began another affair, which turned out to be his shortest. He got engaged to a young girl by the name of Genevieve Laporte, but ended it after just 6 weeks.
7. Picasso's first exhibition was at the tender age of 13, which he planned himself in the backroom of an umbrella store.
8. In 1936, when Guernica in Spain fell to the ravages of the Spanish Civil War, Picasso became livid with rage and sought refuge in art. He quickly set to work to document the brutality at Guernica in a painting that took a mere three weeks to produce and was named in honour of the city.
9. Bull's head, one of Picasso's well known sculptures, is actually made out of two parts from an old bicycle. Picasso experimented with various materials in his art and even toyed with junk.
10. When he was young and just starting out as a painter, Picasso lived in a garret and painted by the light of a single candle in an old bottle.