Picasso and Barcelona

Barcelona was the city that dazzled Picasso during his adolescence and where he spent his most creative years.

Pablo Picasso arrived to Barcelona when he was just 13 years old, in 1895, and it was in this city where he met some of his artists friends, who were the first to recognize his huge talent and to show him the darkest corners of the Catalan city. The artist also enjoyed his first studio in this city, a little space localized at La Plata street, where he made his first engraving: L'àpat frugal and his first illustration (published in the local magazine L’Esquella de la Torratxa). And  it was during these years when Picasso was able to offer his first exhibition to Barcelona, and it took place in an important restaurant, meeting point for all these ancient artists, called Els quatre gats (The four cats).

This restaurant was inaugurated by the painter Pere Romeu in 1887, and it had a big space for shows and exhibitions.  It was in 1900 when Picasso celebrated his first exhibition in this restaurant, hanging drawings and paintings under the obvious influence of Toulouse-Lautrec, Theophile Steinlen (socialist drawer) and the modernist painter Ramón Casas. Today, this typical Catalan restaurant, remains open offering different meals to all its visitors.

Picasso used to admire Barcelona, but the city never offer the same admiration to the painter. For instance, in 1919 Pablo Picasso made his first donation to the city: Arlequín de Barcelona, painted two years before; but when the piece was offered to the city hall, the answer was: “Picasso, no way!” The painting remains today at the National Gallery of Washington.

Picasso always felt himself loved by his Catalan friends but ignored by the mass audience until he was 70 years old. In fact, these Catalan friends were the responsible of the organization of different exhibitions in Barcelona with different pieces of the painter, but all these cultural events were celebrated in private art galleries. It was in 1963 when The Picasso Museum of Barcelona opened its door to the public, getting the chance to all the city to visit different pieces of this great artist.

Picasso left Barcelona after 9 years, going to Paris. He just get back to the city a few times, to visit his mother and his sister Lola.