Pablo Ruiz Picasso (October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973) was a Spanish painter and sculptor. His full name is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno MarÃa de los Remedios CrispÃn Crispiniano de la SantÃsima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. Picasso is undoubtedly the preeminent figure in 20th century art, best known as the co-founder, along with Georges Braque, of cubism. It has been estimated that Picasso produced about 13,500 paintings or designs, 100,000 prints or engravings, 34,000 book illustrations and 300 sculptures or ceramics. Picasso refused a fee for his work (experts agreed that the market value of the work was far beyond the funds available) but preferred to give the design and the model as a "gift to the people of Chicago." Chicago received many expressions of congratulations on its important acquisition. Time Magazine praised the city's "vigor and vision" and described the Chicago Picasso as "one of the most magnificent windfalls in its history." The Mayor and members of the City Council in council meeting May 9, 1973, publicly paid tribute to the famous artist following his death on April 8, 1973. The resolution read, in part, "Pablo Picasso became a permanent part of Chicago, forever tied to the city he-admired but never saw, in a country he never visited, on August 15, 1967. It was on that day that the Picasso sculpture in the Civic Center Plaza was unveiled . . . it has become a part of Chicago, and so has its creator, Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno MarÃa de los Remedios CrispÃn Crispiniano de la SantÃsima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso." (Ha-ha it really just said, "Pablo Picasso.") |
