Remarkably, many great
artists
and writers have had fathers
like Picasso's - pleasant, well-meaning but weak men who
never quite manage to
maintain their families in a
state of middle-class comfort
and respectability. Jose Ruiz
Blasco was a dilettante by
temperament who was forced
in early middle age to eke out
a living as a drawing teacher
and painter. A few years later,
at 42, he compounded his
difficulties by marrying and
becoming the father of Pablo
and two little girls.
The young
Picasso was deeply ashamed of
the family's dependence on
richer relatives, and perhaps
also of his father's mediocrity
as a painter of pigeons.
However, thanks to Don Jose's
choice of profession, Picasso
never had to face any
opposition to his resolve to
become an artist, and always
had access to a studio and
materials.
