Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
walk into room 3, you'll see the enormous
2
Ciiència i c
ia i carriitatt(Science and Charity),
painted in the same year.
After a period spent in Horta de Sant Joan, Picasso came to Barcelona and joined
what was known as the
3
''Cattala
alan a
n avantt--garrdde'', which you'll see in room 4. In rooms
5-7 paintings from
4
1900-
901hang, while room 8 is dedicated to the first signific-
ant new stage in his development, the
5
Blue P
900-1901
Blue Perriiod.
Woman with Bonnet
is an im-
portant work from this period, depicting a captive from the Saint-Lazare women's
prison and venereal disease hospital, which Picasso visited when in Paris - this also
sets up the theme of Picasso's fascination with those inhabiting the down-and-out
layers of society.
His nocturnal blue-tinted views of
Terrats de Barcelona
(Roofs of Barcelona) and
El Foll
(The Madman) are cold and cheerless, yet somehow alive.
Terrats de Bar-
celona
, 1903, is typical of the period, when he frequently painted the city rooftops,
from different perspectives, in this period. Picasso also did many drawings of beggars,
the blind and the impoverished elderly throughout 1903 and 1904. This leads to the
painting of Benedetta Bianco, from Picasso's
6
Rose P
e Perriiod(in room 9), and thence
on to
7
begiinniings o
f cuubiism. Though the Museu Picasso is no showcase for his cu-
bist period, it does hold a few examples; check out the
Glass and Tobacco Packet
still-life painting, a beautiful and simple work that marks the beginning of his fascina-
tion with still life.
The real highlight of the collection, however, is Picasso's take on Velázquez's
8
Las
MMeniinasin rooms 12-14, and a series of interconnecting rooms is devoted to the pre-
paratory sketches, associated works and the painting itself.
s of c
The Collection
This collection concentrates on the artist's formative years, yet there is enough material
from subsequent periods to give you a thorough impression of the man's versatility and
genius. Above all, you come away feeling that Picasso was the true original, always one
step ahead of himself (let alone anyone else) in his search for new forms of expression. The
collection includes more than 3500 artworks, largely pre-1904, which is apt considering the
artist spent his formative creative years in Barcelona.
It is important, however, not to expect a parade of his well-known works, or even works
representative of his best-known periods. The holdings at the museum reflect Picasso's years
in Barcelona and elsewhere in Spain, and what makes this collection truly impressive - and
unique among the many Picasso museums around the world - is the way in which it dis-
