Madrid celebrates the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso

In 2022, you were already able to enjoy two exhibitions that extended until early 2023: “Julio González, Pablo Picasso and the dematerialisation of sculpture” at the MAPFRE Foundation and “Picasso / Chanel” at the Carmen Thyssen National Museum. Although the key year is undoubtedly 2023. The Thyssen Museum is back with the exhibition “Picasso. The Sacred and the Profane”; and the other two major museums in the city, the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofía National Art Museum, present “Picasso-El Greco” and “Picasso 1906: The Great Transformation”. What other cultural spaces join this celebration? La Casa Encendida, which will feature the work of the painter's last 10 years; and Casa Velázquez, which will propose a dialogue between the two artists. 

Upon his arrival in Madrid at the end of the 19th century at the age of 16, Picasso began his artistic training within academic realism at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, another interesting cultural space open for visitors.And where can you see Picasso's works in Madrid today? For example, the Thyssen Museum holds pieces like “The Harvesters” or “Harlequin with a Mirror”. Although, without a doubt, Picasso's most famous work is exhibited in the Reina Sofía National Art Museum. We are talking about “Guernica”, an imposing mural painted in 1937 which is 3.50 meters high by 7.80 meters long. It is painted in white, black and gray and represents the pain of the bombing on the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Looking at it is an unforgettable and overwhelming experience. The museum also has other works by the artist.