Pablo Picasso in Barcelona - 1

Pablo Picasso in the Picasso Museum, Barcelona - 1.

I really enjoyed the visit to the Picasso Museum, and saw some of his work that I had not seen before. The early works, which are the subject of this post are quite interesting to see. The second post is dedicated to his middle and later periods, but so much of the works of that period, his famous works, are to be found all over the world, so that this part of the exhibition was slightly disappointing. The last post is dedicated to the works Picasso made trying to come to terms with, to understand, Las Meninas by Velasquez, and this section, I found really fascinating.

But, the early works first -  it was interesting seeing these, knowing how he developed.

Picasso showed a clear love of drawing from a very young age, encouraged by his father who taught art at the Provincial School of Fine Arts Stan Telmo in Malaga. In 1891 the family moved to A Coruna and Picasso enrolled at the School of Fine Arts. In 1895 the family moved to Barcelona and Picasso continued with his training.

An Evening at Home, 1896, (oil on wood)

Barcelona Rooftops, 1896, (oil on wood)

The Artist's Father, 1896, (wash and watercolour on paper)

Jose Ruiz Blasco, Pigeon Loft, 1891-95, (oil on canvas)

This painting is the work of Picasso's father, who was a painter and drawing teacher.

Trained in the 19th century academic tradition, Ruiz Blasco specialised in painting pigeons which brought him a certain clientele but not the longed-for official recognition. It is not surprising that this iconography, cultivated almost obsessively by his father, remained engraved in the memory and retina of Picasso, who depicted this bird at different times in his career. (There is a whole section of pigeon paintings in the museum and I have shown some of them in the second post).

Man in a Beret, 1895, (oil on canvas)

Academic Study, 1896, (oil on canvas)

Apologies for the reflections, I did my best, but I thought this study should be included.

Academic Study, 1896, (oil on canvas)

Academic Study, 1896, (oil on canvas)

Partial Copy of Study, (oil on wood)

Road Between Trees, 1897-98, (oil on canvas)

Science and Charity, 1897, (oil on canvas)

The Quatre Gats paintings:

In early 1899, Picasso became a full member of the the advanced literary and artistic circles that we today call Modernists. Their meeting place was the Quatre Gats tavern which is still going. This was yet another place we wanted to visit and have a meal, but did not manage to.

Picasso had his first solo show there, held in February 1900 and designed its menu.

Study for the Menu for Quatre Gats, 1890-1900

Study for the Menu for Quatre Gats, 1890-1900

Study for the Menu for Quatre Gats, 1890-1900

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Man, after El Greco, 1899, (oil on canvas)

Grecoesque Figure, 1899, (crayon on paper)

Painter of Modern Life:

In 1900 Picasso made his first trip to Paris, where he had his first direct contact with the currents of modern painting from Impressionism onwards. Observation of the reality around him, capturing nightime Paris, its characters and its atmosphere, is the subject of the paintings from this first visit to the city.

A few months later he returned to Paris to participate in his first exhibition in the French capital. He experimented with a style close to Neo-Impressionism and Post-Immpressionism, as indicated by the use of thick short and dynamic brushstrokes occasionally silhoueted in black.

Self-portrait, 1899-900, (charcoal and chalk on paper)

Lola, the Artist's Sister, 1900, (oil on canvas)

Closed Balcony, 1899, (oil on canvas)

Windows with Curtain from the Interior, 1898, (oil on canvas)

Rooftops, 1900, (oil on canvas)

Interior, 1900, (oil on canvas)

Seated Woman with Shawl, 1899-1900, (charcoal and pastel on paper)

The Embrace, 1900, (pastel on paper)

The Dwarf, 1901, (oil on cardboard)

Study for the Prisoner, 1901, (brush and ink on paper)

The Prisoner,1901, (watercolour and brush and ink on paper)

Ruffians, 1901, (brush and ink on paper)

Waiting (Margot), 1901, oil on cardboard)