Page 18 - Flipbook

Early Years in Málaga
Born in Málaga, under the warm glow of the southern Mediterranean sun,
Picasso was the child of an art teacher and showed an incredible capacity to transform the canvas early on. His hometown was
his first subject and his first love. Fleeting images of the industrial city would forever cast an indelible impression on his work.
A stroll today through Málaga’s historic centre reveals pretty pink houses from the 18th century, brick lined pedestrian lanes, the towering Iglesia de Santiago Apóstol (78 Calle Granada) and rows of dappled trees ignited by orange blossoms. It’s easy to see how Málaga inspired Picasso’s bold use of colour.
The city’s biggest influence on the artist’s work, however, may have been
the enormous arena near the docks. Built in 1874 in a neo-Mudéjar (new Moorish) style, the Plaza de Toros de La Malagueta (8 Paseo de Reding) hosts elaborate bullfights from April to September, with daily bouts during the height of summer. As a child, Picasso was taken by his father to many matches and these frenzied scenes make up some of the artist’s first paintings, at the age of 9, like Le Picador (1890). Soon after, Picasso’s father received a position at an art school in
the north of Spain and the family moved, never to live in Málaga again.
Bohemian Paris
An obvious prodigy, Picasso attended
art school in Barcelona before seeking a career in Paris at the turn of the century. He followed many of his intellectual contemporaries to the neighborhood of Montmartre, where the rent was cheap and studio space expansive.
Once solidly working class, the hill that crowns the city was already home
to artistic luminaries, such as Renoir
and Toulouse-Lautrec. Picasso captured the quotidian—Street Scene (1900) and entered his acclaimed Blue Period after the suicide of his close friend Carlos Casagemas. It was here, however, that Picasso spent what he would later refer to as the happiest years of his life. You can visit some of the places the artist frequented during this period, such as the Moulin de la Galette (83 Rue Lepic; 33-1-46-06-84-77; lemoulindelagalette. fr), where he attended spirited soirées, and Au Lapin Agile (22 Rue des Saules; 33-1-46-06-85-87; au-lapin-agile.com), where he traded sketches for meals. You can walk by Le Bateau-Lavoir (13 Rue Ravignan at Place Emile Goudeau) to see the building in which Picasso rented the apartment where he birthed the Cubist movement with the African influenced Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), largely considered the first proto-Cubist work.
Museo Picasso Málaga
Situated in a renovated 16th century palacio in the centre of Picasso’s hometown, this museum houses more than 250 works spanning his career. His adolescent bullfighting studies are
particularly of note, as are the more elegant works featuring his main love interests— Olga, Jacqueline and others. 8 Calle San Augustín, Málaga, Spain; 34-952-127-600; museopicassomalaga.org; admission $11*
As soon as the Montmartre area had garnered enough bohemian buzz to become a magnet for bourgeois wannabes, Picasso decided to jump ship in search
of a new neighborhood across the Seine. He settled on the Saint-Germain district and set up shop along the quay at 7 Rue des Grands Augustins, where he spent about 20 years in an eccentric house
that, according to Picasso, was “full of literary and historical ghosts.” It is fitting then, that he created Guernica (1937), an antiwar painting haunted by the spectres of violence in that mysterious workshop. During this time he met his first wife, Olga Khoklova, a ballerina 10 years his junior, though he found many mistresses at the nearby cafés and bars.
Museu Picasso Barcelona
Before permanently leaving Spain for an illustrious career in France, Picasso called Barcelona home for several years and this museum features a whopping 4,250 pieces from the first few decades
of his life, especially works from his Blue Period, at the turn of the century. 15–23 Montcada, Barcelona, Spain; 34-93-256-3000; www.museupicasso.bcn.cat/en; admission from $16
GUIDE TO
PICASSO
EXHIBITS
The products of a prolific career spanning eight decades, Picasso’s works can be found in almost all the major art museums across the Western world and even a few in Asia. The following exhibits are dedicated to his works and chronicle the varied phases of his colourful life.
16 SEPTEMBER 2014
*Estimated meal prices do not include drinks, tax or tip.