6 Fun Facts About Pablo Picasso

You may be familiar with Picasso’s iconic Guernica and his Cubism paintings with bright, bold colours and geometric shapes – but how much do you know about the artist behind the art?

Did you know that Picasso’s full name is actually Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispín Crispiniano María de los Remedios de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz Picasso? Did you know that he was notorious for his love affairs?

If not, we’ve got you covered. Read on for our most interesting facts about Pablo Picasso.

1 - Picasso’s First Word Was ‘Pencil’

The first word to come out of Picasso’s mouth was ‘piz’ - a form of the Spanish word ‘lápiz’, which translates to ‘pencil’ in English.

His father was an artist and taught Picasso how to draw from a very young age – Picasso was immersed in the art world since he was young, so it’s no surprise that his first word was about art.

2 - Picasso Co-Founded the Cubism Movement

Cubism is one of the most popular art forms, characterised by geometric shapes and multiple perspectives… and Pablo Picasso co-founded the whole movement alongside Georges Braque in the early 20th century.

The Cubism movement was one of Picasso’s most prominent periods – it revolutionised modern art, breaking subjects into multiple geometric forms. His 1907 piece "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" is considered one of the earliest prototypes of Cubism, laying down the groundwork for the movement. Alongside Braque, Picasso’s contributions to Cubism challenged the more conventional and realistic forms of art.

3 - Picasso Produced Close to 150,000 Pieces of Art

Some artists produce a couple of hundred pieces of artwork in their lifetimes and it’s a huge achievement. Take the king of Pop Art himself, Andy Warhol, for example, who produced 12,000 drawings and 9,000+ paintings – which is considered a huge accomplishment.

Well, Picasso topped this – here’s a breakdown of what he produced:

• 13,500 paintings
• 100,000 prints and engravings
• 34,000 book illustrations
• 300 sculptures and ceramics

His whole career spanned just under 80 years. There's no denying that his entire artistic portfolio is extraordinary, which is just one of the many reasons why Picasso is so famous. 

4 - Picasso’s Last Words Inspired Paul McCartney

If you’re a Paul McCartney fan, you may have heard his song "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)". But what’s with the “Drink to Me”?

The night before Picasso died, he had dinner with his friends. During this gathering, he said "Drink to me; drink to my health. You know I can't drink any more.”

After dinner, Picasso then announced that he was going back to work, and painted until 3 AM. But why did Paul McCartney write about Picasso’s last words? Well, actor Dustin Hofman challenged McCartney to write a song about anything, so McCartney did just that!

5 - Picasso Had Four Children

Picasso had a large family, with four children by three different women. He was also married twice and was notorious for having numerous affairs and long-term mistresses.

1. Paulo Picasso (born 1921) - Son of Picasso and Olga Khokhlova, his first wife.
2. Maya Widmaier-Picasso (born 1935) - Daughter of Picasso and Marie-Thérèse Walter.
3. Claude Picasso (born 1947) - Son of Picasso and Françoise Gilot.
4. Paloma Picasso (born 1949) - Daughter of Picasso and Françoise Gilot.

His children played a huge part in managing their father’s legacy after he died in 1973. Picasso left no Will, so as you can imagine, this led to legal battles among his children. Paloma Picasso, his last surviving child, currently manages the Picasso estate. 

6 - Picasso Has Had More Artwork Stolen Than Any Other Artist

Did you know that over 1,000 pieces of Picasso’s artwork remain missing to this day? Picasso holds the record for having the most pieces of artwork stolen.

In 1976, 119 pieces of Picasso’s art were stolen from the Papal Palace, which is referred to as the largest peacetime art theft in history. In the same year, 125 Picasso prints were stolen from an art gallery in Paris, valued at around $500,000.

Although some have been recovered, others are thought to be lost forever – with one even being thrown into a skip ("Le Pigeon aux Petits Pois").

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