1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class as a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: a show that paints a new scene from history every 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: day of the week. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: we're looking at an important milestone in the life of 6 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:25,760 Speaker 1: Pablo Picasso, the post Impressionist master who helped develop a 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: whole new way of looking at the world. The day 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: was June one. Spanish painter Pablo Picasso held the first 9 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: major exhibition of his artwork at a gallery in Paris. 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: The exhibit was held on Rue Lafitte, an upscale street 11 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: renowned for its impressive art galleries. A solo showing at 12 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: an established gallery was a major breakthrough for the nineteen 13 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: year old Picasso. His greatest works were largely still ahead 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: of him, but the seventy five paintings he displayed in 15 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: Paris revealed a young artist with enormous potential. Pablo Picasso 16 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: was born on October twenty five, eighteen eighty one, in 17 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: the coastal city of Malaga, Spain. His father, Jose Ruiz Blasco, 18 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: was both an artist and an art instructor at a 19 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: local provincial school. When Picasso was seven years old, he 20 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,040 Speaker 1: began taking figure drawing and oil painting lessons from his father. 21 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: Seven years later, the family moved to Barcelona and Picasso's 22 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: father began teaching at the City School of Fine Arts. 23 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: Picasso enrolled there not long after, and throughout his teenage 24 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: years he participated in group exhibitions held by the school. 25 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: Several years later, in eighteen ninety nine, Picasso dropped out 26 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: of school, swore off academic classicism, and took his art 27 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: in a drastically different direction. He joined a local group 28 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: of avant garde artists and writers and began experimenting with 29 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: new styles and techniques. The community met regularly at a 30 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: local tavern, and in nineteen hundred Picasso held his first 31 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: professional exhibit there, though it didn't do as much for 32 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: his career as the nineteen o one show in Paris. 33 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: It was around the time of that tavern exhibition that 34 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: Picasso took his first trip to the City of Light. 35 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: The French capital was the place to be for aspiring 36 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,239 Speaker 1: experimental artists. Not only did the city's lively atmosphere in 37 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:38,399 Speaker 1: modern fashions provide loads of inspiration, there was also its 38 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: network of prestigious commercial galleries. By the time Picasso made 39 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: its a Paris, many of his post Impressionist peers had 40 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: already held their own exhibits on the famous Rue Lafitte. 41 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: This included Vincent van gov Paul Suzanne, Paul Gogan, and 42 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:00,040 Speaker 1: George Sara. Picasso wanted in on the action, so he 43 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: spent the next year producing bold new works for his 44 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: own potential show. In early nineteen o one, Picasso returned 45 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: to Paris determined to win an exhibition. He brought a 46 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: hundred of his own paintings with him and landed a 47 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: meeting with Amboise Volar, the prominent art dealer who had 48 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: arranged shows for Picasso's contemporaries. Impressed by the young artist's 49 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: obvious talent, Volar immediately agreed to purchase and show the 50 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: paintings at his gallery that summer. Picasso was thrilled by 51 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: the opportunity and worked breathlessly to complete new paintings for 52 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: the show, sometimes cranking out as many as two canvases 53 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: per day. In the end, he chose seventy five paintings 54 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: for the exhibit, representing a range of themes and subjects. 55 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: There were bright, colorful scenes of Parisian nightlife, as well 56 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: as bold, moody landscapes and portraits of people from all 57 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: walks of life, including sex workers, art dealers, and high 58 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: society women. To an ounce his arrival to the art world, 59 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: the young artist also included a self portrait titled Yo 60 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: Picasso or I Picasso. In a show of confidence. This 61 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: was the first painting listed in the exhibition catalog. Not 62 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: as many art critics that attended the show as Picasso 63 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: would have liked, but those who did wrote favorably of 64 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: what they saw. One critic, Felicien Vegas, described Picasso as 65 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: quote a brilliant newcomer, though he did go on to 66 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: say that the artist had yet to forge his own 67 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: personal style, all in due time. Still, most people would 68 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 1: count the exhibition as a success, but not the man 69 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:45,279 Speaker 1: who financed it, m Bois Volar. He had expected a 70 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: more glowing reception for Picasso's work, and although he had 71 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: purchased a studio's worth of the artists paintings, Volar refused 72 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: to buy from Picasso again until five years later. As 73 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: you might imagine, that betrayal soured Picasso's view of Volar 74 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: as well. He believed his paintings could have sold for 75 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,919 Speaker 1: far more and that Volar had taken advantage of his 76 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 1: eagerness to exhibit in Paris. Picasso wasn't alone in that 77 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: feeling either. Both Cogan and Matisse claimed to have been 78 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: swindled by Volar. In fact, Matisse reportedly pronounced the art 79 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: dealer's name as volleur, the French word for thief. Pablo 80 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: Picasso's first major exhibit wasn't a total success then, but 81 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: it did get his name out there, serving as an 82 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: introduction vote to the art world and to his fellow 83 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: post Impressionists. Picasso remained in Paris for the rest of 84 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: the year, and later settled there permanently in nineteen o four. 85 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: Life in the foreign city was difficult at first. He 86 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: struggled with loneliness and poverty, but he didn't suffer in vain. 87 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: He channeled those down and out experiences into his art, 88 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: kicking off his legendary Blue Period, a series of works, 89 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: including The Old Guitarists, that used blue tones to capture 90 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: the gloomy world of the underprivileged. From there, Picasso's style 91 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: continued to develop through the Rose period, where he often 92 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: painted lively circus scenes in orange and pink, and eventually 93 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,600 Speaker 1: to his pioneering work and Cubism, the abstract style for 94 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:22,839 Speaker 1: which he's best known today. Through all his different periods, 95 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: which spanned the course of over eighty years, in total, 96 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 1: Picasso created more than fifty thousand paintings, drawings, engravings, and sculptures. 97 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: This made him one of the most prolific artists of 98 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: his generation or of any other. I'm Gabe Luzier and 99 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 100 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. You can learn even more about 101 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 102 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,039 Speaker 1: t d i HC Show, and if you have any 103 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, you can always send them my way 104 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: at this Day at I heart media dot com. Thanks 105 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank you 106 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: for listening. I'll see you back here again soon for 107 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: another day in History class.