When he was a young man on one of his first visits to Paris, Pablo Picasso burned many of his early paintings and drawings just to stay warm. For many people today this must seem ludicrous, especially considering the value of his art work. But during this early period of his life his work was not yet of value.
Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. He is the co-founder of the cubist movement, which is a type of art form where the artist breaks up objects and places them into geometric and abstract form. He is probably the most well known artist of the 20th century.
Picasso expressed an uncanny talent for art from an early age. In fact his mother was quoted as saying Picasso’s first word was pencil. During the first decade of the 20th century he spent much of his time travelling and experimenting with different art forms, theories, techniques and ideas. His most famous work is considered to be Guernica, which showed the bombing of the Spanish town of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish civil war. This particular painting is among the greatest anti-war paintings.
What was the reason Picasso burned his paintings?
Unfortunately Picasso was not always a famous painter, and in his early adult life he was poor, like many people are today. He found it difficult to make ends meet, often not having enough money for food or art supplies. During this period a lot of his work featured people who were poor and destitute. Faced with a bleak European winter he had no other option but to keep himself warm, or die. Unfortunately for the art world Picasso had to burn many of his paintings to stay warm as there was no other affordable way for him to create heat in his apartment.
