The legitimate heir of Pablo Picasso’s art work, Bernard Ruiz-Picasso! What did he say about his famous grandfather?
Know the family
Pablo Picasso was a great and extremely talented Spanish painter of the 20th century. This sculptor, printmaker, stage designer, ceramicist, poet, and playwright was from Malaga, Spain but lived the major part of his life in France.
Pablo had several mistresses but was legally married only to Russian dancer Olga Khokhlova in 1918. Paul Ruiz-Picasso was their only child. Paul Ruiz was married twice.
His first wife was Emilienne Lotte with whom he had two children; son Pablito (1948-1973 death by suicide) and daughter Marina (born 1950). Paulo and Emilienne separated when Marian was 5 months old. Paulo married Christine Picasso who gave birth to Bernard Picasso in 1959.
Bernard’s work and gallery
Bernard was 14 years old when his grandfather expired living behind a rich legacy. His half-brother Pablito died soon after and 2 years later, Bernard lost his father. He had to live his studies and learn about art so that he could manage the large asset left behind by his grandfather.
Bernard is an author and in 1995, he released his ‘Perfume of Sable’ which is a collection of poems. He has also co-authored ‘Miquel Barceló: Farrutx 29.III.94’ which was released in 1999.
His wife Almine Rich owns a gallery and the two reside in Paris and Brussels. They exhibit and support contemporary art.
Bernard’s visit to Delhi Art Gallery
On the 25th anniversary of the Delhi Art Gallery, Bernard was in Delhi, and in an interview given to Kishore Singh, Picasso’s grandson had immense information to pass on to his grandfather’s fans. In 2014, Bernard had revealed to the world a huge collection of his grandfather’s never-seen-before pictures.
This was not Bernard’s first visit to the Capital. He had come to South Asia twice before; once to Delhi and Nepal Himalayas and the second time to South India.
What did Bernard say about his grandpa Pablo Picasso?
Reminiscing his childhood days with his aged grandfather, Bernard said:
“As a child I was very glad to be around him, to breathe his happiness. Of course, he was quite old at the time, but I was aware that he would focus 100 per cent on whatever he was doing, whether it was playing with me, or going to the bullfights, or painting — which he seemed to do non-stop.”
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Talking about Picasso’s daily routine, Bernard said:
“He would make drawings during the day, or etchings, meet friends, his art dealers, but his paintings he worked on at night. I don’t remember him drinking, there was very simple food on the table, and he was always creating something.”
Picasso used to paint non-stop, said Bernard-
“I remember my uncle — Picasso’s second son — telling me he would see his father receiving a consignment of 80 ceramic plates in the morning, so he would fold his newspaper and begin to paint till they were all finished, but Picasso wasn’t.”
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Bernard continued:
“So he would pick up a sketchbook and fill all its pages and look around for something else to do till there was no more material left. Then he’d announce he was heading for the beach.”
“He was never complacent, never repeated himself — all signs of a great master.”
Bernard is the co-founder of the Museum in Malaga, Picasso’s birthplace. He also has the largest collection of his grandfather’s paintings which are worth a fortune.