Discovering Picasso’s roots in Málaga, Andalusia

Not only is Málaga ‘idyllic’, it is an essential destination for an ‘immersion tour’ of Picasso’s life

Picasso was born in the Andalusian city of Málaga in 1881
Picasso was born in the Andalusian city of Málaga in 1881
(Image credit: Ken Welsh/Alamy Stock Photo)

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death, and museums across Europe and the US are “pulling out all the stops” to celebrate his life and work. Among the most essential destinations on any “immersion tour” is Málaga, says Andrew Ferren in The New York Times. Picasso was born in this Andalusian city, and though his family moved to A Coruña, in northern Spain, when he was nine, he always “considered himself a malagueño”. It was in Málaga that his artistic gift was first recognised by his father, José Ruiz y Blasco, a painter and art teacher, and aspects of the city and its “deeply layered” heritage would appear repeatedly in his work.

Picasso left Spain during the Civil War in the 1930s and – an enemy of the Franco government – never returned. Plans to establish a museum of his work in Málaga in the 1950s were quashed by the regime, and it was not until 2003 that the Museo Picasso Málaga opened, spearheading a wave of openings (including a satellite branch of the Pompidou Centre) that has electrified the city’s cultural scene. Housed in a 16th century palace, it tells the story of the artist’s career through an astonishingly diverse collection of 250 works.

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