Pablo Picasso (born in Spain 133 years ago on October 25, 1881) showed signs of his talent early. His mother claimed his first words were a shortened version of the Spanish word for pencil, and his father, who was a painter and art teacher, supposedly gave up painting when he realized his son had surpassed his own skill by age 13.

Picasso's career as an artist covered different periods, such as his "Blue Period," when he turned out somber paintings predominantly worked in cold shades of blue, followed by the "Rose Period," which saw him turn to warmer colors and brighter scenes inspired by circus activity. But his work as a founder of Cubism, along with French artist Georges Braque, was his lasting contribution to modern art. Picasso (pictured in self-portrait) moved beyond literal representations in his work, delving into a technique that broke objects down into their constituent shapes and re-assembled them, sometimes using cut portions of wallpaper and newsprint in strange collages that placed a distinctive stamp on the practice of art.

Picasso spent both world wars living in France, experiences that almost certainly pushed his work into more somber directions. During one inspection by a Gestapo officer of his Paris apartment, he was supposedly asked about his painting "Guernica," depicting the bombing of a town by German and Italian warplanes during the Spanish Civil War. "Did you do that?" the officer supposedly asked, to which Picasso is said to have replied "No. You did."

Picasso was married twice, and had multiple lovers and mistresses during his life. One explanation of his career said that he invented a new style every time he fell in love with a new woman. He turned out over 1,800 paintings, 1,200 sculptures, and 2,800 ceramics during his life, many of which he kept instead of selling. After his death in 1973 at age 91, these works were turned over to the French government in the absence of a will, and are now displayed in the Musée Picasso, a Paris art gallery dedicated to his work.

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