Share
by mia hadjigeorgiou
Located just slightly north of Barcelona’s famed Gothic Quarter, Museu Picasso showcases an eclectic collection of works by Pablo Picasso, one the twentieth-century’s most influential and celebrated artists.
The whole museum is a light and spacious renovation of five large townhouses in the Catalan civic gothic style, with modernised features like air-conditioning, which definitely help guests to relax and take their time with the art in the hotter summer months.
Inside Museu Picasso, each wall is adorned with different Picasso pieces, from small half-finished pencil sketches to intricate oil pastel self-portraits and still life drawings. For some of Picasso’s most popular pieces, particularly with his 1896 oil-on-canvas self-portrait, crowds can tend to cluster, but do not be alarmed- with so much to see throughout the rest of the museum, there is never a queue.
What makes Museu Picasso so special is that it is not just the art which is celebrated at this museum but also the artist himself; Museu Picasso pays close attention to Picasso’s changing life and the transformations in his art which coincided with his own physical and emotional turmoil. Because of this, it makes Picasso’s art accessible to the masses, not keeping visitors guessing at interpretations of his more surrealistic pieces, but able to understand his art through a grounding of his life story.
Personally, my favourite piece in this collection has to be the 1901 ‘Still Life (The Dessert)’ oil-on-canvas painting, which in its vivid yet simplistic depiction of a fruit bowl, encapsulates perfectly the style of early Picasso.
Standard admission tickets are priced at €14 (£11.80) per person, with concessions for under 18s, students, and over 65s also available and free entry on selected afternoons every week. For an additional fee, guided tours and workshops are also available to book, for those looking to study Picasso’s work more in-depth.
