Description: Although I'm quite into modern art, appreciation of the work of Picasso generally passed me by until I visited the Museu Picasso in the heart of old town Barcelona a few years ago. I recently revisited the museum as we were visiting Barcelona with a friend, a first time visitor to the city.
The Museu Picasso costs 11 Euros to enter and probably takes just over an hour to have a reasonable rootle through the exhibitions. Unfortunately, the real top draw paintings are not at the Museu Picasso although you get a good feel for the early development of the artist, and through a later series of paintings, both donated to the city of Barcelona personally by the artist and by an ardent admirer and close friend, Jaume Sabartes.
The first rooms show Picasso to be a very accomplished and competent artist at a young age; at 15 he was already painting high quality portraits and landscapes. I was particularly impressed with Picasso’s attention to detail, particularly with drawing the wrinkles and shapes of old people. He completed a nude of a middle aged man from behind, and captured that sagging muscle tone around the old man's naked rear end perfectly. It is rather sad to reflect that the older man would probably be subject to a police interview at the very least if he posed naked in front of a gifted teen artist today.
As Picasso moved into his late teens and early 20s he continued to study and develop his style; a view through the rooms sees his artist style becoming looser, and eventually you can see that it is less the strict image of the person or landscape that Picasso wants to convey, but more some aspect or facet of their personality or mood. Consequently, faces become much less distinct or important. I can imagine that because Picasso could paint so well it became a boring chore for him; much more challenging is to capture the spirit.
From the early 1900s, the museum takes a quantum leap in time to a series of 58 paintings Picasso donated to the museum, dating from 1957, when he was in his late 70s. The series, Las Meninas are his interpretation of a classic painting of the same name by Velázquez. Again these images show a little insight into how Picasso's artist mind worked – reinterpreting and changing the aspect, angle and atmosphere of the original works. While many viewers don't recognise "people" in Picasso's work, it is clear he has picked out some aspect of their personality which follows through the different images he produced.
As you wander through the paintings, take a little time to note the grand palace the museum is homed in. While Picasso and his dear friend donated the paintings, the city donated the exhibit space, and they could hardly have chosen grander, as the building as very fine stone work throughout.
The final rooms provide my personal favourite part of the museum, a series of pottery produced by Picasso, and donated to the museum after his death by his grief stricken wife (she would commit suicide 13 years after Picasso died, in 1986). I love the bold colours, and it seems to me that Picasso's bold art is perfect for pottery.
The museum has a good gift shop, with a good range of cheap and pricey Picasso themed artwork to purchase if you wish.
Close