In the Barcelona footsteps of Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881 – 1973)
Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga in the south of Spain on 25th October 1881.
In 1885 the Ruiz Picasso family moved to Barcelona, where arguably the world’s greatest painter spent his formative years and began his professional career as an artist.
Picaso’s time in Barcelona is well documented. Many of the places where Picasso lived, studied and hung out with friends in Barcelona from 1895 to 1904 are known.
The Picasso family first lived for a few months on number Passeig Isabel II, 4 then moved to the nearby Carrer de la Reina Cristina, 3, where they lived while Picasso studied art at La Llotja School of Fine Arts for two years. Miro later studied there too.
In 1897 the cafe and restuarant Els Quatre Gats, on the Carrer de Montsió 3 was opened. This became a popular hang-out for Picasso and his cronies. One of his firsts exhibitions was in Els Quatre Gats. Picasso's design for the menu in still in use to this day.
None of the locations have Picasso exhibits today, but it’s fun to walk in the streets, where he trod during his early years in Barcelona and get a feel for the kind of life he must have lived.
All the locations of Picasso studios are in the old city of Barcelona, the Cuitat vella
In April 1904 Picasso went to live in Paris and although he returned for brief stays on various occasions he never lived in Barcelona permanently again.
The Picasso Museum in Barcelona is very much an expression of his time in Barcelona. It houses the most important collection of his early work in the world.
