Where and how to sign a painting is a subject that comes up regularly on the Painting Forum, but one question I've not yet heard is what to do if your name is so long it won't fit on a painting very easily. That's a problem which occurred to me when I discovered what Picasso's full name was. How's this for a mouthful:
• Where, How and Why to add a Signature
Pablo, Digo, Jose, Francisco de Paula, Juan Nepomuceno, Maria de los Remedios, Cipriano, dela Santisima Trinidad, Ruiz PicassoHis name was apparently in keeping with local tradition, and he experimented with various shortened versions and even circled initials before setting on "Pablo Picasso". Today we generally hear him referred to as simply "Picasso". (I found this bit of art trivia flicking through a a fascinating in a rather heavy-weight book called A Sum of Destructions: Picasso's Cultures and the Creation of Cubism, on page p209.)
• Where, How and Why to add a Signature
Comments
Ha, what’s in a name?
It’s not infrequent. In football for instance, we know that many Brazilian or Portuguese players (who are also artists) choose a part of their name, in period of activity. As Brazilian Ronaldo: in fact, his name is Ronaldo Luis Nazario De Lima. Only”Ronaldo”, it’s also easier for the radio commentators!
In Spanish-speaking countries, the last name is always double because the mother’s last name is always added after the father’s last name. Other names are just saints or relatives that the parents want to honour.
So that Picasso’s normal full name would have been Pablo Ruiz Picasso, with Ruiz being his father’s last name and Picasso, his mother’s last name.
Lucky for him, he decided to use only his mother’s name. Who knows if someone named Pablo Ruiz would have become so famous?
you could always use your email username!
“Picasso” has a nice arty sound to it. I can imagine him sitting and practicing his signature, saying it outloud as he went – and then finally deciding on Pablo Picasso. Good choice and we do associate him as “Picasso” today. Henri Matisse – we know if we say Matisse who we are talking about. My name doesn’t have any arty sound to it! I’ll have to work on that.