Pablo Picasso was born in 1881 in Malaga, Spain. His father was an art teacher and drew very well. Pablo began taking classes from his father when he was ten. Just a few years later he was drawing better than his father!

He had his first exposition at thirteen. The family then moved to Barcelona in 1895 and Pablo entered La Llotja art academy. At that time he used to go to cafes, restaurants and theaters to find inspiration.

In 1898 he decided to change his style and began to spend time with other artists who had connections with the world of art in Paris. In 1904 he moved to Paris and began to develop his new style of cubism. Cubism broke with tradition and played with perspective and illusion. At first the critics did not like this new art form. However, little by little with the support and influence of his friends who were part of the artistic world, he began to gain fame.

One of his most famous paintings is called Guernica. It was painted in 1937 and shows the horror of modern warfare. It represents a bombing during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). It is a very large painting and it’s displayed in the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. During his 91-year life, Picasso produced 1885 paintings, 1228 sculptures, 2880 ceramics and about 12,000 drawings. Today his works are sold in art auctions for millions of dollars.

Salvador Dali was born in 1904 in the Catalonia region of Spain. He was an excellent draftsman and his painting skills were influenced by Renaissance masters. He was a very imaginative man and had an eccentric manner. He was also famous for his unique mustache.

Dali exhibited his first paintings from his family home at the age of 15. His mother was very supportive of his talents but died when he was only 16 years old. He was friends with many other surrealist painters and artists including the famous poet Federico Garcia Lorca and the painter Joan Miró.

In his lifetime he met Pablo Picasso and experimented with Cubism and also Dadaism, artistic movements of his day. He did not limit himself to art. He was also interested in natural sciences and mathematics. He was particularly fascinated by optical effects and performed many experiments at home. He also had a lifelong fascination with film, fashion and photography.

Although Dali passed away in 1989, he continues to be a cultural icon. He has been portrayed in a number of films including the film Little Ashes (2008) featuring Robert Pattinson as Salvador Dali.

Frida Kahlo de Rivera was born in a town outside Mexico City in 1907. She was born in her parents’ home that is now called Casa Azul, or Blue house, owing to its color. She had three sisters and two half-sisters from her father’s first marriage. Her father was from Germany and her mother was Mexican, indigenous and Spanish in origin.

At the age of 18, Frida was a passenger on a bus involved in a serious accident. She suffered injuries to her back, her right leg and her uterus. For the rest of her life Frida was in pain and had many operations. Also, she could never have a baby. All this caused her to suffer serious episodes of depression.

Frida first began painting during her recovery from the accident. She painted many self-portraits in bed. Her paintings show the influence of the indigenous culture of Mexico. In 1929 Kahlo married Diego Rivera, another famous artist. Their marriage was tumultuous. For example, they divorced and married again the next year! They were active communists and knew many famous  people of the time such as Leon Trotsky.

Kahlo produced at least 140 portraits before her death at the age of 47 in 1954. While not famous in her lifetime, Kahlo’s works have gained in popularity over the past three decades both in Mexico and abroad. A film of her life, Frida, was produced in 2002 with Salma Hayek in the main role.

Antoni Gaudí was a famous Spanish architect born in 1852. He was from the Catalonia region and the majority of his works are located in Barcelona. Gaudí was very proud of his Catalan heritage. He was an artist on a large scale who used his passions of nature and religion to create his works. The buildings he helped to create are extremely unique in their style and known throughout the world. Even his last name has become synonymous with an over-the-top decorative style.

As a child, Gaudí was often ill and spent a lot of time alone in nature. He became a vegetarian at a young age and was a devout Catholic. Gaudí began his work as an architect in the 1870s and soon established himself. By 1883 he was well-established enough to receive the important commission of building the Basilica that came to be known as The Sacred Family or La Sagrada Familia. This project became his life’s work although he continued to work on other projects including churches and other prominent buildings throughout Barcelona. Gaudí developed his own unique style within the modernism movement often incorporating postconsumer products into his designs.

After suffering from ill health and almost dying from tuberculosis in 1910, Gaudí renewed his efforts to finally finish his project on La Sagrada Familia. By then, the church had become known as being a safe haven for the poor. Unfortunately, Gaudí passed away before the church could be completed. Today La Sagrada Familia is a UNESCO heritage site and receives millions of visitors annually from throughout the world.

Gaudí never married, devoting his life completely to his career and his faith. He died in 1926 after being struck by a tram. After a large funeral, his body was laid to rest in his beloved church of the Sacred Family.

During the 1910s Rivera was in Paris witnessing the emergence of a new art form called Cubism. Painters such as Pablo Picasso influenced his early work. Rivera returned to Mexico in 1921 and began a period of drawing large murals along with other notable artists such as José Orozco. Some of his murals depict scenes from Mexico’s 1910 revolution. They include simple figures combined with bold colors. Rivera also included Mayan and Aztec influences in his art. A number of his murals portray life in Mexico in the pre-Columbian era. Other works are more abstract and show urban landscapes, portraits and nature.

In 1929, Rivera married fellow artist and former student Frida Kahlo. Together they lived and worked in a house called “La casa azul” owing to its blue color. They were well known on the Mexican art scene and had many influential friends both in Mexico and abroad. Although their marriage was not always happy, Rivero was devastated when Frida Kahlo passed away. Rivera’s legacy is still felt today and many of his works can be found in Mexican and American museums today.