The Artist of Many Faces: The Evolution of Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso was one of the most famous and influential artists of the 20th century. Born in Spain in 1881, he showed incredible talent from a very young age. His father was an art teacher and began training Pablo when he was just a child. By the time he was a teenager, Pablo could paint as well as many professional artists. However, Picasso did not want to spend his whole life painting things exactly as they looked in real life. He was a restless genius who felt that art should always be changing and growing. Throughout his long career, he moved through many different styles, or 'periods,' each one looking completely different from the last.
- Palette:
- The range of colors used by an artist in a particular work or during a certain period.
- Somber:
- Dark, dull, or very serious in mood.
- Saltimbanques:
- Traveling circus performers, including acrobats and clowns.
- Cubism:
- An artistic style where objects are broken up and put back together in an abstract way using geometric shapes.
- Abstract:
- Art that does not attempt to represent external reality exactly, but instead uses shapes, colors, and forms.
- geometric:
- Made up of simple shapes such as lines, circles, angles, and triangles.
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About this biography passage for Upper Elementary
“The Artist of Many Faces: The Evolution of Pablo Picasso” is a biography reading passage about Pablo Picasso, written for Upper Elementary. It takes about 4 minutes to read (641 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.