The revolutionary artist Pablo Picasso might have been born in the sunny Andalusian city of Málaga in 1881, but he spent much of his life elsewhere, including a game-changing decade in Barcelona from 1894 to 1904. The Mediterranean-hugging Catalan capital nurtured and inspired Picasso’s astonishingly early talent, and it was here in 1900 that he held his first solo exhibition – at Els Quatre Gats, the now-famed Modernista cafe-bar in the Barri Gòtic.
From the art-filled medieval halls of the unmissable Museu Picasso to curious neighbourhood buildings he once called home, Picasso’s legacy is still visible across Barcelona, and this year brings a string of exciting new exhibitions as part of the ongoing international “Picasso Year”. Celebrated throughout 2023, the anniversary marks 50 years since the artist’s death aged 91 in Mougins, in France, and explores his work with new-angle expositions at major galleries across Spain and beyond. It has also opened up an important wider conversation about Picasso’s mistreatment of women and cultural appropriation of African art.
