By: Alexa Herrera
Hidden within a narrow alleyway is the entrance to the world of Pablo Picasso. The Picasso Museum, located in Catalonia, showcases the artist’s life through his artwork.
The museum takes the visitor through the artist’s different periods of his life with different rooms representing different styles of his artwork.
As you walk through the gothic style building and the numbered rooms, you can read about what he was doing during a certain period of time and the stylistic choices he made.
Picasso in Barcelona
Picasso was born in southern Spain but spent his formative years in Barcelona. In 1895 his family moved to the city, and he enrolled at Llotja School of Fine Arts where his father was a teacher.
The city became his inspiration for thousands of sketches and paintings which can be seen at the museum.
The museum boasts 4,251 pieces of art and focuses on his earlier, lesser known works.
A woman admires the painting Man with Fruit Bowl. This painting shows Picasso's post impressionism and cubism style.
Different Rooms for Different Periods
When you walk into the different rooms, you can feel Picasso trying to convey a mood through his paintings.
The first seven rooms showcase his earlier works such as Science and Charity and The Street of Riera de Sant Joan from the Artist's studio. Some of these works were created when Picasso was very young. You will be in awe of the masterpieces he was able to create from such a young age.
The Street of Riera de Sant Joan from the Artist's studio was painted from the studio he shared with his friend Carles Casagemas.
As you marvel at the iconic paintings, you will go to rooms eight and nine and feel a little blue. These rooms have works from Picasso’s blue and rose periods. The blue period has paintings with mainly blue-green tones. It was influenced by the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas. His paintings during the blue period depict a heavy psychological burden of the characters.
This painting called Motherhood is a part of the blue period depicts a mother and child in poverty.
In rooms 12 through 14, you will feel like you are seeing the true works of Picasso. A group of paintings called Las Meninas are shown here. These 58 paintings are interpretations of works done by Diego Velázquez using cubism, which is the style he is best known for. These were donated by Picasso in 1968.
While you are walking through the next room, you will be surprised to see pigeons.
While Picasso was working on Las Meninas, he created artwork based off of the pigeons he saw on the balcony of his studio. These paintings are shown in room 15, but he said he considered the pigeons part of Las Meninas.
Konstintin Papanikolaou, a visitor from Austria, said that the paintings of the pigeons were his favorite.
“I like the pigeons because I feel like they are kind of weird,” he said.
The Pigeons was created when Picasso was taking a break from interpreting Las Meninas.
Papanikolaou said that he is not a fan of going to art museums, but he thought going into the different rooms was interesting and informative.
“The layout of the museum was great because I could see the phases Picasso went through during his career,” he said.
About the Museum
The museum opened in April 1963 after Picasso’s friend and secretary Jaume Sabartés proposed the creation of it. Sabartés donated his personal collection of the artist’s work, and the museum was originally named The Sabartés Collection.
Picasso told Sabartés that he wanted the museum to be in Barcelona. The artist was opposed to the Franco regime at the time so the museum had to be named after his friend.
The original collection was composed of the pieces Sabartés had as well as Picasso’s works that he had donated to the Barcelona Museums of Art.
The building has also expanded since opening. Currently, it consists of five gothic palaces from the 13th to the 15th century. The palaces are called Palau del Baró de Castellet, Palau Meca, Casa Mauri and Palau Finestres.
The ceiling and wall decor of the room that holds some of Picasso’s sculptures
You can also walk into the courtyard before or after your visit to look at the gothic architecture of the building.
Important Pieces
Although many people might be surprised not to see the typical cubist style of Picasso’s paintings, there are many key pieces in the museum.
Jose Luis, a museum worker, said that he thinks Las Meninas is one of the best paintings the museum has.
“I like the different representations of Velázquez’s work,” he said. “Many people spend a lot of time looking at the maintings trying to compare the different perspectives.”
He said that Las Meninas is the most famous work in the museum.
This is the main piece of Las Meninas which was finished on August 17, 1957.
Luis also said Science and Charity is also a great piece of art because of how young Picasso was when he made it.
In the painting, everything is centered around the sick person in the bed. This draws the viewer into the artwork and focuses their attention to the center.
The painting was awarded an honorary mention at an exhibition in Madrid in 1897 and a gold medal at another exhibition in Malaga.
Picasso painted Science and Charity when he was 15 in his first art studio.
Finally, the third important piece Luis said visitors must see is the Gored Horse.
You might turn away at the sight of this horse being impaled by a sharp blade, but during his life, Picasso was a fan of bullfighting.
He drew this horse being impaled in pain with blood spilling out to show what happens when a bull gored a horse.
Although it can make the viewer cringe, he or she cannot look away from the expression of the helpless horse.
This was drawn with a graphite pencil on the canvas in Barcelona in 1917.
Tickets and Tours
If you are interested in visiting the museum it is open from Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. There are a few days where you can go for free. On Thursdays, you can visit for free from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m and the first Sunday of each month is free. There are also four dates during the year that are free.
Tickets cost €12, but the reduced price is €7. The reduced price is for people between 18 and 25 years old and others who fit the criteria on the museum website. Free entry is also available for people under 18 and some other visitors who fit the criteria.
Guided tours are available in four languages, and audio tours are also available that visitors can do at their own pace.
These two pictures are a part of Las Meninas and are characters from Velázquez's work.
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