Pablo Picasso lived almost 92 years and his creativity and productivity flourished up until his final moments. There was no couch-potato existence for this man –who developed the artistic technique called Cubism– despite suffering from severe prostate problems in his later years.

“Death holds no fear for me,” he told a friend shortly before his death, “What I am afraid of is falling ill and not being able to work.” Picasso actually did stay up painting until 3 am the night before he died, preparing for an upcoming show at Popes’ Palace in Avignon.

It is awesome to think that Picasso created about 400 paintings in the last three years of his life and perhaps thousands of etchings and drawings in his final years. Yet painting was not enough for this powerhouse of creativity. Picasso took up sculpting in his final decade. In fact, he presented Chicago with his now famous sculpture – called Chicago Picasso – which he completed in 1967 at the ripe age of 86 years!

A few of his most famous works:

Guernica 1937 – Message of human suffering during wartime

Violin and Guitar 1915 – Cubism

Nude Woman with a Necklace 1968 (at age 87)

Chicago Picasso 1967 (at age 86) weighing in at 162 tons!