Pablo Picasso and his link to Barcelona

The Picasso Museum

The Museu Picasso , located in Barcelona, Spain, houses one of the most extensive collections of artworks by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. With more than 3,500 works by the painter, the museum has the most complete collection of his works. The museum is housed in Barcelona's La Ribera and is located on Montcada Street. It is the first museum dedicated to Picasso's work and the only one created during the artist's life.

Naturally, no photographs are allowed. But the museum is laid out chronologically, so you start with explanations of his early years, his schooling and his first works. The thing that struck me most was his quality of texturing and technique. It is readily apparent that at an early age, he learned his great technique for applying paint. You can see it in the brush strokes. The paintings are readily accessible and so you can look at the detail of the technique and colors.

It is also interesting that while he always had a penchant for an unusual viewing (modernistic) of his subjects. there was a very radical shift in his later years to the Picasso radical style. Because the Museum is chronological, you can see the shift happen in the span of only a couple of years.  

I am not a museum person, or a mall person for that matter. I usually get sensory overload after 30 to 60 minutes of a Museum (less in a mall). I did get to the point that Picasso's colors and style got to me and I started to rush, but I spent a full 3 hours in the Museum, the story was told so well. Oh, and yes, english is everywhere, as well as Spanish and Italian

Highlights of the collection include two of his first major works, The First Communion (1896), and Science and Charity (1897). In particular, the Museum Picasso reveals Picasso's relationship with the city of Barcelona, a relationship that was shaped in his youth and adolescence, and continued until his death. There is a lot about his relationship with his wife Jacqueline, who was his Muse and close companion. She was the loving subject of many of his works.
It is definitely one of the highlights of Barcelona Art. Even if you question the Picasso style, his mastery of painting and influential evolution with other great artists of the era tells a great story. The Museum does a wonderful job of telling that story.