Picasso Birthplace Museum - Part 1 📷 Malaga - Spain

The work of Picasso in his early life is nowadays spread by the Museo Casa Natal de Picasso. It was formerly known as the Foundation.

It is located in what was the house where Pablo Picasso lived his first years and this museum was created by the Town Hall of Malaga in 1988. Opposite is the Plaza de La Merced, where Picasso painted the famous pigeons.

In Picasso's birth house we can find his work from his childhood, the first 10 years of his life, as well as family memories and objects that belong to the lifestyle of that time.

Nothing of what is there is wasted, so I will divide this visit in two parts, due to the importance of this exhibition and the renown of this artist.

The Picasso Foundation promotes the artist's work and in the house where he was born there is a collection of works donated by different members of the family, descendants, such as his granddaughter, as well as other people who have some of his works, who have acquired them at some point in history.

This collection consists of notebooks, drawings, sculptures, engravings, sketches, lithographs, among others. There is also a section dedicated to ceramic works and another to photographs and paintings.

Picasso's Birthplace is listed as an Asset of Cultural Interest and a Historic and Artistic Monument.
Of the building where it is located, only the ground floor and the first floor are dedicated to the exhibitions of the artist.

They are in turn divided into rooms, according to the theme. Five months ago the rooms were restructured and refurbished.
Before entering the rooms you can see at the entrance a lot of objects for tourists to see and also a small souvenir shop.

This time I will tell you about and show you from room 1 to 4. In all the rooms, the personality of Picasso is present.

The tour starts on the ground floor, room 1, which is called Pablo, growing up in the studio.

Here we can find his first sketches and drawings, his apprenticeships, the training of the artist, who learned everything from his father, José Ruiz Blasco, a painter and art teacher.

Picasso also had contact with other painters because he was in the circle that surrounded his father.

That is why some of the works of these artists and painters, such as Joaquín Martínez de la Vega, whom he considered his godfather in painting, are also shown in this room.

There is also an oil portrait of Picasso's father.

We see precious sculptures, sketches, engravings, and much of Picasso's work as a child, as well as the tools he used to paint, at the back of the room.

The latter, before the renovation, was located on the first floor, in the Lifestyle room. I was very excited to see the brushes, the paint palette and other objects that were used by the painter. Being in that place is very impressive.

Room 2 and 3 are also on the ground floor and are next to each other almost without division, as the subject matter is very similar and they are related. They are called The Model and The Artist and the Model.

It is also about his training as an artist and his models, especially his female models. The female nude is very present and you can see original drawings and sketchbooks, one of which is very special as it is the only one in Spain, called Las señoritas de Avignon.

In the room there are video screens showing the different drawings by Picasso, as his work is so large that it would not all fit in the room. The complete notebook is shown on this screen.

We can see many engravings that the artist made of his models, unique works that show the stage of formation and development of his artistic vein.

Once the tour of the ground floor has been completed, a marble staircase must be climbed, after viewing the photographs and texts that adorn the walls as you go up each step.

Room 4 refers to the artist's family, the family environment. Something that was not there before is the timeline explaining Picasso's life on one of the walls.

In this room we can see family photographs, from the artist's childhood. Also family objects, portraits that Pablo Picasso made of his parents, his sisters and his father's hands.

These can be found in a notebook full of drawings on this theme, exciting memories and works.

Picasso lived in Malaga until he was 9 years old and then returned to the city on several occasions, especially on holidays.

In this place there are memories and experiences and one feels something difficult to explain when one is in the presence of all these objects, photographs and excellent works of art of one of the best painters in history.

One of the phrases that most caught my attention was one that appears in the family room and it goes like this:
When I was a child my mother used to say to me: if you become a soldier, you will be a general. If you grow up to be a monk, you will become a pope.
But instead of all that I became a painter and ended up being Picasso.

I hope you liked this first part of this wonderful place of art and history.
Best regards to all of you and see you next time.
Amonet.

_{All photographs are my own.
Separators created by me in Photoshop.
Used translator Deepl.com free version.
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