Jesus Fuertes (; 14 April 1938 – 18 June 2006) was a Cubist painter, who was initiated into the world of art by Salvador Dalí, and was described as a "true genius" by Pablo Picasso. Fuertes often chose women and cats as his subject matter. Several of his well-known works involve the use of shades of blue, which earned him the nickname "Painter of Blue". His paintings hang in such notable buildings as the Queen Sofia Art Museum in Madrid, the Beaux Arts Museum in Brussels, the Contemporary Art Museum in Vienna, the Pretoria Art Museum in South Africa and the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art in Brazil. His works have also been acquired by various celebrities and institutions, such as King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain, Princess Christina of the Netherlands, Prince Albert II of Belgium, Baron Benjamin de Rothschild, the Spanish Ambassador Miguel de Aldasoro, Jacqueline Onassis, Paloma Picasso, Yves Saint Laurent, Paco Rabanne, Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski, Sylvester Stallone, Julio Iglesias, Mireille Mathieu, Sara Montiel, Charles Aznavour, Sacha Distel, Capital Bank founder and president Abel Holtz, Deutsche Bank, Phillips, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer, and Sabena Airlines. Early life Fuertes was born in Madrid, Spain in 1938, during the Spanish Civil War to a Bohemian poet who moved in the same literary circles as poets Jorge Guillen and Pedro Salinas. War and political uncertainty in Spain forced the Fuertes family to seek political asylum in France. While in France his father met Pablo Picasso who, at that time, was involved with a group that helped Spanish artists and intellectuals adjust to life in exile. Fuertes' father began to frequent symposiums attended by Picasso and they quickly formed a friendship which would last for life. Fuertes' first exhibition was at the age of 15 at the Young European Painters Exhibition in Berlin, which awarded him the second place prize. Early influences His first contact with the Surrealist world was made through Salvador Dalí, who introduced him to André Breton, the father of the Surrealist movement. However, Fuertes was receptive to other trends, movements, and quests, which attracted the attention of Pablo Picasso. The two developed an assiduous relationship, thus permitting Fuertes to research the roots of Cubism. This led him to paint his first neo-cubist canvas. In 1957, he exhibited with Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, and Pablo Picasso at the Bruxelles International Expo,