Reading

№ 8

1.Read the magazine article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

PABLO PICASSO

 Pablo Picasso was one of the greatest artists of the 20lh century. He experimented in many different styles and changed the world of art during his time. Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain in 1881. His father was a drawing teacher. At 10 Pablo became his father's pupil and at the age of 13 he held his first exhibition. His family moved to Barcelona in 1895 where Pablo joined an art academy. In his early period the young artist painted life as he saw it around him — in cafes and on the streets. Then they moved to Paris, the centre of art and literature.

 In 1901 a close friend of Picasso shot himself. This had a great influence on Pablo. He was very sad and began painting his pictures in grey and blue tones instead of bright, vivid colours. This part of his career is called his Blue Period (1901-1904). 
Later on, he changed his painting style and started using more earth colours — rose, pink or brown. He liked to paint pictures of circus life with dancers and acrobats. This Rose Period lasted until 1907.

 When Picasso started working with his friend and fellow painter Georges Braque in Paris they started experimenting with a new style that was called cubism. Picasso and Braque didn't want to show nature as it really was. They thought that all objects in nature had geometric forms. In cubism, objects were cut into many flat shapes, which looked like a puzzle. All the sides of a person's face, for example, were shown at once, maybe even with three eyes instead of two.

 In 1936 Civil War broke out in Spain. During this period he painted his masterpiece Guernica. It shows the terrified people of the ancient Spanish town which was bombed during the Civil War. Picasso was shocked by this inhuman act and in his painting he shows people running in the streets and screaming with their mouths wide open. To display his sadness and anger he used only black and white as well as shades of grey.

He continued his work up to his death in 1973. For his great imagination and skill he is called 'El Maestro' of modern art.

2. The most famous painting of Picasso is Guernica. Read aloud the extract about it.
3. Where did Picasso learn to paint? 

4. Picasso worked in different styles. Which styles are mentioned in the article? What are their typical characteristics?