June 17, 1890
My name is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruiz y Picasso, but people usually call me Pablo Picasso. I am 9 years old and I live in Malaga, Spain. I live with my family. Today, I have painted a great picture and I am proud of it. It is a man riding a horse into a bullfight. My father also thinks it is a nice one and he is letting me work next to him every now and then. I want to go to an art school and become a great artist. Maybe, I will be someone even better that any other artist that has ever lived and become somebody pretty important. My father is giving me some lessons on painting and that will help me enter an art school after proving my father that I can do amazing works. Meanwhile, I am not sure what my two sisters, Lola and Conchita will do. I believe they don’t have any talent in arts and they may not be as significant as me in the future. I wish they would also become artists. We might all have been a family of artists.
May 5, 1895
We moved to Barcelona last month. My sister died which made me feel really sad and sorrowful. She was always a great support for me, and she was a kind sister to me. After her death, my father decided to leave La Coruña and move here. He is a teacher at School of Fine Arts. He was already a teacher earlier but now I believe he might do a favor for me and help me get accepted to his school as a student. He already knows that I am successful at what I am doing. He once admitted that I drew a lot better than him. So maybe, I may enter the school, even if I am 14. However, I do know that I would probably get bored in the classroom, drawing simplistic scenes and objects. I would rather go out and draw the great views of Barcelona, not just fruits and models. I am not sure if I want to continue my life in here. Yet, I don’t have many options for now.
October 7, 1903
Finally, I decided to move to Paris to change my lifestyle and the boring life I had in Barcelona. Paris is a great place for getting inspirations and owning an art studio. However, my friend Carlos has committed suicide. It was a terrible event that happened yesterday. We were so close, I still remember meeting with him in Barcelona. He was just like a brother to me. I hate that I can’t even believe what I am saying right now. I am not sure even if I can continue my work with the sorrow that I have. It feels too selfish to forget about him and do my work. However, art is my living. People will never understand my feelings if I do ordinary art so I may change my style to show them what sorrow is like. This way I may do my work, and show my sorrow for Carlos. There is also poverty, isolation and much more in this world that is painful. I have already done a few paintings which were Carlos’s portraits to remember him. Still, I am not sure if I will come over this depression. Whatever I do, it doesn’t change but maybe art might help me in this situation.
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December 17, 1905
I have just done another painting of a harlequin today. Currently, I think they are really nice people to paint. Their clothes are bright and red is a great color of attraction. Their show is filled with excitement, and it reflexes to my art, making it more alive. Now, I also started getting over Carlos’s death. My suffering has ended, and I feel more relaxed now. He will surely never be forgotten, but I won’t have any more painful memories of him. Anyway, I have other great stuff in my life. I have met Fernande Olivier, a beautiful artist. We are happy and our life together is going great. I had a painting of some women and I was personally inspired from her. She is marvelously beautiful as well as she is lovely inside. She has been a great support in getting over Carlos but I am not sure how long our relationship will last.
July 4, 1908
Recently, I painted a quite unique piece. It is just like a picture of a few women but like my recent paintings I did something pretty unfamiliar. I drew it with squares and the abstract side of it makes it beautiful. Everything has corners and it is covered with lines and geometrical shapes. I really like this style and that’s what makes me myself. Georges Braque is an artist friend of mine, who helped me develop this method. We were tired of the standard rules that many artists were doing, so we settled down and created a method where everything would have sharp corners and each object and person is broken into pieces. This helps us to create unique pieces and define art in a different way. Surely, I will use this method for a long time. I believe it will impress and make people wonder about art more than seeing a normal painting. Better keep painting more.
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September 8, 1919
Life is going good for me now. It seems that the World War is over, and I married Olga. Olga is a Russian ballet who I met in Rome. Soon after, we married and started living back in Paris. It’s been over four years when I broke up with Fernande but I’ll tell about it. Shortly, she reminded me of Carlos’s death and bad times I had, so we broke up. About my art, I did some changes too. I started painting classical rather than abstract again, because I feel like I am not in the mood of something odd similar to the war that happened recently. Also, I believe many people won’t even understand abstract art now, because our thoughts haven’t changed since we are fighting over land for centuries. These abstract art pieces carry new thoughts, such as peace but there is no one to see them. Not many people are ready for new ideas, and it is better for doing some classic, good, old paintings.
June 14, 1927
I broke up with Olga about a month ago. Things didn’t work for us, and this was a typical solution we found. Officially, we are still married but that’s the end of our relationship. I started focusing on my art more and I decided to go back to abstract style that I was used to. I feel energetic and young when I do those type of paintings. So, I am again painting with sharp corners and breaking down each picture into pieces and developing them. I believe that my style is now developing to be something that is special to me. I am not sure what happened to my friend, Georges who helped me find this technique. At least, I kept this technique alive. My paintings are getting famous and I keep on doing them as long as it is popular. My talent is unquestionable and that is what makes me Picasso. With this talent, I may also spread peace which is a really important manner for me.
April 29, 1937
A war is continuing in Spain, but art won’t die with it. Recently, Germans bombed Guernica, but people of Guernica will not be forgotten. I decided to paint them in my way to show the world, what war brings upon us, and how brutal it is. War is inhumane and no one deserves to suffer such a painful death. The painting is going to be black and white showing how emotionless weapons and soldiers are like. Surrealism will add a great effect of chaos and terror, making every figure’s emotions deeper and more realistic. I believe no standard painting can achieve the same effect as mine and I hope it will leave a great advice to humanity. For many years, I have painted for sharing peace and I made them in a surrealistic way. I think I always did the right thing but it seems like the world never changes. Perhaps one day, the world will change and people will carry pencils instead of weapons.
November 12, 1950
Paris is now liberated from the Nazis who were the worst kind of people I have ever seen. They were pretty harsh to French people, and they discriminated all the Jews. However, I have outsmarted them, and I was able to continue my work in my gallery with no problems. I also met Françoise Gilot and we are living together now. We aren’t married but our relationship is as close as that. We had two children, Claude and Paloma. Paloma is really special for me because I wanted a girl who would be named after my efforts for peace. Painting will never end for me, however I feel like my great influence is coming to an end. My final masterpiece is probably Guernica and the follow-ups I did about the bombing of the city. Politics will be my priority and I may do much more right now. I will join Communist party as I have always thought they did a lot more than anyone else.
March 5, 1955
Françoise and I aren’t getting along very well. We have 40 year or so difference between us. You can say that I am a bit strict and harsh father, but that was the way I was raised up. Trying to raise up my children the same way, is just a tradition that I have, so I am not a horrible father. I am afraid that Françoise might leave me one day and go away from our house with our children. On the other hand, the whole world sees me as a person who is trying to do my best to support peace and I believe I am that person. I still do paintings, in fact; I did a mural for UNESCO building in Paris. I became a celebrity that everyone liked, also a part of Communist Party, but I couldn’t become a good father. If anything happens to them, it will be a great pain for me.
August 8, 1965
I am feeling quite comfortable today. I am at my chateau outside of Paris with my wife Jacqueline. We married secretly when I was together with Françoise but later we got divorced. Finally, I was left alone with Jacqueline’s company which I couldn’t enjoy more. Unfortunately, I am not able to see my children from now on, which is the worst side of divorce. Anyway, I made my daily painting today as usual. From morning to afternoon, I just settled down on my chair and painted until I finished it. Jacqueline was so amazed and shocked about how I do that. Basically, when you become an artist, your soul comes together with your paintings. I told Françoise that my body stays out of the room when I am painting, so my soul and art combines. I believe that this is the life formula that we artists have, it helps us to live longer and a life of entertainment.
March 23, 1973
If the doctor is right, this may be my final entry. I feel like I am getting worse each week, and I am getting closer to death. I also painted a self-portrait and named it “Self-portrait Facing Death”, like I was getting ready for the funeral. Even if I die, I know I will die happily now. During my lifetime, I have done so many paintings that I don’t know how many of them I still have in my hand. Thousands of Picasso paintings surround museums, exhibits and other locations. Maybe, people will understand my pictures and how I tried to share peace around the world. Other than art, I have written poems, played in movies and had a spectacular life of a celebrity artist. I had a few wives and 4 children and I will leave a heritage behind me, which shall continue my legend. I may have acted a bit harsh to my children, but I hope they will understand their father’s choices and keep sharing the fame of our family, and help the world in some way. I remember something that my mother told me: “'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk, you'll end up as the pope.” But I became a painter, and ended up as Picasso.