Picasso didn’t always sign his paintings Picasso. Early on in his career, he signed them Pablo Ruiz Picasso. Ruiz was his father’s last name. Picasso was his mother’s maiden name. When he dropped Ruiz and began signing his paintings strictly as Picasso, a lot of folks thought it was to spite his father. They had a tumultuous relationship. Picasso surpassed his father’s artistic abilities at a very young age and it’s believed this caused resentment on both sides to form.

However, his choice to drop “Pablo” and “Ruiz” from his signature was just a brilliant branding maneuver. In other words, it was strictly business. It was less of a mouthful. It was far easier to remember. And, it was unique. There were a ton of artists at the time with the last name “Ruiz” but very few with the last name “Picasso”. What we choose to call ourselves and our work possesses a tremendous amount of power. Choose wisely.