Pablo Picasso Worked From Home

Famous 20th century artist Pablo Picasso worked from home. It was at his home studio Bateau Lavoir in the Montmartre area of Paris below the Sacré-Coeur (a few blocks from the famous Windmill) where Picasso and Georges Braque created Cubism.

It was at another home studio in Paris, where Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, the ur-painting that shocked the world and invented Modern (Abstract) art.

Picasso’s work phased from Blue Period to Cubism to Abstraction to sculpture to ceramics, as he moved between home studios inside and outside Paris. (This has justified Art historians in claiming how art can be influenced by experience.)

What is interesting, is that Picasso did not always give up one studio after he had moved to another one. An art dealer remembers dining with Picasso and friends one night, possibly along Rue St. Germain. After dinner, they decided to visit Picasso’s studio, which was nearby.

“That evening after the party had broken up, Picasso took us to the Left Bank studio which he still uses,” writes the dealer. “As we climbed the stairs we saw a sign on the door of the apartment below him: ‘This is not Picasso’s studio — another flight up, please.’

“[Upstairs] we came upon the most deplorable barnlike garret…Hanging from a nail in one rafter…