In the Barcelona footsteps of Pablo Ruiz Picasso. Find out where Picasso lived in Barcelona.

Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973) 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. Picasso’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 1986 they moved to Carrer de la Mercè 3 and Picasso worked in his first studio on Carrer de la Plata 4. In 1897 the cafe and restaurant 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. Picasso studied at the art school, La Llotja (now called the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi)  and used various studios during his years in Barcelona.

None of the locations have Picasso exhibits today, but it’s fun to walk in his footsteps 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

  Map Carrer de la Plata, 3
  Map Carrer d’Escudellers Blancs
  Riera de Sant Joan 17  ( no longer exists. Torn down when street Via Laietana was built in 1907)
  Map Nou de la Rambla 10
  Map Carrer de Comerç 28

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.  You can also find 16 ceramic works by Picasso in the Ceramics Museum of Barcelona  Pablo Ruiz Picasso died of a heart attack on 8th April 1973 aged 92 in Notre-Dame-de-Vie, in Mougins, France

On the 10th April 1973 he was buried in the gardens of his castle, Château de Vauvenargues -  Vauvenargues Castle, Bouches-du-Rhône, near Aix-en-Provence in France.  His grave is decorated with his own sculpture " Woman with the vase " (1933), shown during the World exhibition of 1937 in Paris. Picasso's home and grave are still owned by the Picasso family and until 2009 were not open to the public. For the first time ever in 2009, the building has been partially open to the public for the summer by Catherine Hutin, the daughter of Jacqueline Picasso. Contact the tourist office in Aix-en-Provence for more information about visits this summer.

  Picasso museum in Barcelona
   Restaurant Els Quatre Gats, a popular hang-out of Picasso's in Barcelona
   Eight Picasso works at the MNAC museum in Montjuic

  16 ceramic works by Picasso at Barcelona Ceramics museum Barcelona in Pedrables 
   Fun link - Make your own Picasso head painting here