The life of artist Pablo Ruiz Picasso cannot be understood without Barcelona. Naturally, the Catalan city joins the series of events organised to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the painter's death through different exhibitions. Take the chance to visit the very complete Museu Picasso and other locations in the city where Picasso (born in Malaga) spent his formative years and where he socialised with other artists like Ramón Casas and Santiago Rusiñol. Come and be charmed by the Mediterranean light so perfectly depicted in his paintings. And find out even more about the genius of cubism.
This is how Picasso spoke of Barcelona, a city where he lived mainly from 1895 (at almost 14) to 1904, although he would later return on multiple occasions. Nine years that were crucial for his development as a painter. Barcelona as painted by Picasso was beginning to emerge as a modern city. Picasso quickly joined avant-garde cultural circles and began to create his first personal style: the blue period.
Barcelona joins the celebration of the artist's death with three unmissable exhibitions to better understand the figure of Picasso. In the Picasso Museum of Barcelona, you can see an exhibition dedicated to Daniel – Henry Kahnweiler, the pioneer dealer of Cubism. A visit to this museum, created on the artist's initiative, is always recommended. It holds the most important collections in the world from his formative period and has the famous series of "Las Meninas" and a valuable collection of ceramics donated by the painter's last wife, Jacqueline Picasso.The Picasso Museum, next to the Fundació Miró, also organises a joint exhibition about the friendship and mutual admiration between the two artists. And at the Museu del Disseny, from June 2023, you will be able to learn more about Picasso and Spanish ceramics.
If you visit any of these exhibitions, you cannot miss the chance to tour Barcelona and stop at locations linked to Picasso.You can start with the building els Porxos d'en Xifré, since the Ruiz-Picasso family lived in the ground floor of one of the houses when they first arrived in Barcelona. Can you imagine the artist from Malaga going up to the terrace to paint the roofs and create his first city landscapes?Nearby is the house of La Llotja, a treasure of Barcelona's civil Gothic where Picasso's father taught and he himself trained. Later, the artist would work in studios in various parts of the city such as Calle de la Plata.
In Plaza Nova, you will find three friezes on the façade of the Col·legi D'Arquitectes, made by Norwegian sculptor and photographer Carl Nesjar based on drawings by Picasso.And finally, a very special stop: the café-restaurant "Els Quatre Gats", which was the centre of intellectual meetings in modernist Barcelona at the end of the 19th century. A sign designed by Picasso himself will invite you to enter this establishment; the original café was a favourite of Picasso's, where his drawings were exhibited for the first time.Today Barcelona is still an example of an avant-garde and cosmopolitan city and bears the legacy of the city that dazzled Picasso and introduced him to modernity. Come and discover the Barcelona of Picasso.
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