How did Pablo Picasso’s father encourage his early artistic talent?

Pablo Picasso’s father, José Ruiz Blasco, was a professor of drawing who played a significant role in nurturing his son's early artistic development. Recognizing his son's unusual talent, he took Pablo on as his pupil around the age of 10 when the family moved to A Coruña in 1891.1

As Pablo’s skills grew, his father actively shifted his own professional ambitions to support his son’s career. He provided the young artist with models and offered essential support for Pablo's first exhibition in A Coruña at the age of 13. Later, when the family moved to Barcelona, his father helped facilitate his entry into the local art academy, where he also served as a professor. The family held high expectations for Pablo to succeed as an academic painter, and his father even modeled for the doctor in one of Pablo's notable early works, Science and Charity.1