Pablo Picasso is often considered the greatest artist of the 20th Century. He started his career as a 16 year old artist who was copying the paintings of Goya and Velasquez during his many trips to the Prado.

A boy genius: Picasso was born on October 25,1881 in Malaga, Spain. He was the first child of Don Jose Ruiz y Blasco, an art teacher, and Maria Picasso y Lopez. At an early age Pablo showed an interest in drawing. His first words were “piz, piz”, which is short for “lapiz”, the Spanish word for pencil…”
The artist’s most well know panting maybe: Guernica. It is a monumental painting, depicting the Nazi German bombing of Guernica, Spain, by twenty eight bombers, on April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. The attack killed between 250 and 1,600 people, and many more were injured.

But he was not just a painter… Picasso’s poetry and other written works, are often overlooked in discussion of his long and varied career. Despite being immersed in the literary sphere for many years, Picasso did not produce any writing himself until around 1935 when he ceased painting, drawing and sculpting, and committed himself to the art of poetry; which in turn was briefly abandoned to focus upon singing. Although he soon resumed work in his previous fields, Picasso continued in his literary endeavours; writing hundreds of poems, concluding with The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.

Save those napkin drawing… Like you and me, Pablo loved to doodle. The only difference is that the original copies of his doodles go for at least half a million dollars. My doodles go, well, let’s not talk about it…

The estate of Pablo Picasso was valued at about 90 million when he died. He’s one of a group of artists who actually have monetized the value of their art for themselves and their heirs in their own lifetime.

Wealth for others, too: A huge cache of canvas painted by Picasso nearly 100 years ago were unveiled for the first time at the home of a retired electrician in France. The collection of 271 paintings, drawings, sketches and lithographs dated from 1900 to 1932, when the young and poor Picasso came to France from Barcelona and was recognized as one of the world’s greatest artists. The collection includes nine cubist collages, a painting from his celebrated blue period, drawings and models for the most important portraits of his first wife, the Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova. The art collection is potentially worth at least $79 million.

Fun fact for you trivia buffs: What do George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and painter Pablo Picasso all have in common? They all had the privilege of owning the worlds most recognizable and lovable dog, the Dalmatian. Dalmatians have been around for hundreds of years, having been known as circus, carriage and even War Dogs. They are easily recognized by their well defined, muscular body and spotted coat. They became quite popular after the release of Walt Disney’s 1961 film, “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”, which was based on the 1956 children’s novel, “The Great Dog Robbery” by Dodie Smith.