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"Painting is a blind man's profession. He paints not what he sees,
but what he feels, what he tells himself what he has seen." - Picasso

Pablo Picasso is one of the most famous artists of modern art. He created thousands of paintings, prints, sculptures and ceramics that left an imprint in people's mind right up till today. He was a versatile artist capable of doing many styles and not just sticking to one. According to Picasso, one should change their styles and interests, just as the world is constantly changing.

Pablo Ruiz Picasso was the eldest of three siblings. His two younger sisters were Lola and Conchita. Pablo was born on 25 October 1881 in Málaga, Spain. His father, Don José Ruiz Blasco, was an art professor who taught him to draw and oil paint in the traditional method of realism - duplicating subjects as they appear in real life. According to his mother, Maria Picasso y Lopez, Picasso's first word was 'pencil'. Surely enough, art became Picasso's life and passion.

By the age of 13, Picasso's talent had surpassed his father's. Recognising his amazing talent, his father decided to hand him his brush and palette and vowed to never paint again. When Picasso was 14 years old, his family moved to Barcelona, Spain where his father became a professor at the School of Fine Arts. It was there that Picasso took an advanced art entrance exam that was way beyond his age and passed it with flying colours.

After two years of studying in Barcelona, Picasso moved on alone to study in Madrid. In 1904, Picasso settled in France, where he remained all his life. Picasso's work is often categorised into periods, each showing different styles and personal interests.

Blue Period (1901-1904)
The paintings in this period had many shades of blue and reflected a sad period of Picasso's life when his best friend committed suicide over a girl who had refused him. The subjects in the paintings often depicted loneliness, poverty and the lower class people such as beggars and poor mothers with undernourished children.

Rose Period (1905-1907)
This was a happier period for Picasso. Warmer colours such as orange, pink and beige dominated his work. During this time, Picasso met a French model (for sculptors and painters) whom he frequently took to the circus under the bright pink tent. Paintings of clowns, acrobats, harlequins and high society were common. Most of these paintings were bought by an art dealer, Ambroise Vollard, and marked the beginning of Picasso's prosperity. The Boy With Pipe painted during this time was sold at an auction in 2004 for US$104 million, and is reported to be the second most expensive painting in the world.