Visit to the Museo Picasso Málaga

Monday February 17 was an all sun day with a high of 23C.  We are finding that in the sun it feels quite warm (but no humidity) but the narrow streets provide shade and make it a bit cooler.  Perfect walking weather.

We started our day by checking out another food market not far from our apartment but in the opposite direction from the city centre.  The Mercado de Salamanca is in a 1920s building with "Moorish Revival architecture" (built 1922-25).  It is undergoing renovation, so there is a temporary market in an adjoining building.  We got provisions for Tuesday's dinner.  Prices were even more reasonable than the much larger Mercado Central de Atarazanas we had visited on Saturday.  We bought a large zucchini, two lemons, a tomato and two large potatoes for 1.90 euro!!   We are spending a fraction of what we spend in Toronto at our weekly shop at St. Lawrence market.  Plus everything is fresh and delicious- fish, artichokes, tomatoes and strawberries!!

Outside of El Mercado de Salamanca

After we dropped the food at the apartment, we headed out for a visit to the Museo Picasso Málaga.

We first picked up a cone of amazing potato chips that our friends had told us about.  Delicious and very crisp.

With a cone of potato chips 

We then stopped by Casa de Bandera and bought a package of chorizo and some sheep cheese for our pasta dinner tonight.

Lots of choice for meat and cheese

We passed by the Cathedral with the lovely orange grove outside.

Cathedral

Outside of the Picasso Museum

Museo Picasso Málaga was created in response to Picasso's desire for his work to be shown in the city where he was born.  The museum was created thanks to Christine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the artist's daughter-in-law and grandson, whose donations constitute the core of the Collection.  The initial idea for the museum arose in 1953 as a result of contact between Picasso and the Provincial Delegate for Fine Arts in Málaga. However, the project fell through shortly afterwards.

Christine Ruiz-Picasso, the widow of the artist's eldest son, Paulo Ruiz-Picasso, resumed contact with Málaga in the early 1990s.  The project finally came to fruition when the museum officially opened on October 27, 2003 by their Majesties King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain.  The Museum is housed in the Palacio de Buenavista, built in the first half of the 16th century on the ruins of a Nasrid palace.

There are 233 works in the Museum's collection.  The collection is organized chronologically from Picasso's earliest work as a student, through his cubism period, paintings in the 1930s and onward, experiments in ceramics and late paintings just prior to his death in 1973.  Unfortunately, photography was not allowed.  I could take photos of the captions and managed to get photos of a few paintings.  I also found a number of the pictures on the Museum's website.

Olga Seated, November 9, 1923

Portrait of Olga Picasso, Juan-les-Pins, summer 1920

View into one of the rooms of the museum- beautiful tiled wooden ceiling

In one of the rooms, a 20 minute video from 2011 was playing.  It was entitled Picasso at work: Through the lens of David Douglas Duncan, and was directed by Thierry Spitzer.  It was a wonderful interview with Duncan (1916 - 2018), a photojournalist who talked about his time photographing Picasso.  He had been introduced to Picasso by fellow photographer Robert Capa.  He showed up at Picasso's home in the south of France and Jacqueline took him to meet Picasso who was sitting in a bathtub.  Duncan took a picture, of course.   Duncan published seven books of photographs of Picasso.  He became a close friend and was the only person allowed to photograph many of Picasso's private paintings.  His first book with photos of Picasso and his work was published in 1958.

The first picture by Duncan in 1956

From the video

Duncan told a wonderful story about how he thought that the colourful woman pictured below would be a challenge to Dior.  Picasso responded that it was a picture of a Japanese battleship and that the bird in the picture, painted in 1939, was a warning to America about Japan.  The red, white and blue colours were America.  Great story and video.

View from the second floor of the Museum

One of my favourite painting in the Museum was Woman with Raised Arms, painted in Paris in 1936.  In the early summer of 1936, Picasso met the photographer Dora Maar who was the inspiration for the figure in this painting.  The notes for the picture noted that at the time, the Great Depression was taking place in the United States and in Germany, the exhibition Degenerate Art, which condemned modern art, was about to open.  The following year Picasso painted Guernica (the bombing of the small town of Guernica in northern Spain) by the Germans, after the Spanish Civil war began.

Woman with Raised Arms, 1936

Portrait of Françoise, January 30, 1945

Another favourites was Jacqueline, Seated, painted in 1954.  It was painted in the rue des Grands-Augustins in Paris.

Jacqueline Seated, Paris, October 8 1954

Still Life with Rooster and Knife, February 21, 1947  (we overheard a docent tell a group of students that the Rooster could represent France in the period just after the war) (from the internet)

Three Doves, Cannes, November 18, 1960 (from the internet). Picasso painted doves often, as his father had done.

Jacqueline in a Straw Hat, IV, January 14, 1962 (from the internet)

After our visit to the Museum, we decided to go for a coffee and wander some more in the sun.  We passed the Inglesia de San Agustin, dating back to the 16-18th centuries.   There are many beautiful well- preserved churches in Málaga.

Inglesia de San Agustin

We had flat whites (mine with oat milk) at Mia coffee, which has an off-site roaster.  It is a small shop where one can order at a window or sit inside.

We had our coffees inside--- yes, coffee is always a good idea

At the coffee window-- Mia started operations in 2016 in a very pretty square

Heading out after our coffees

We passed by a spectacular church- Inglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Jesuitas).  It was inaugurated on May 12, 1920.   The blue sky and sun illuminated the church.

Gargoyle detail

We passed by another Brotherhood building.  Our Free Tour guide told us to be on the look out for other enormous doors.  They need to be very high so that the Semana Santa  (Holy Week) chariots can be brought in and out.

We sat for a while in the sun at a Plaza we hadn't visited before.

Lovely in the late afternoon sun

Plaque for a Málaga artist 

We started to head to our apartment, passing some women in traditional dress in a hurry.

All dressed up and in a hurry

We walked down a street not far from our apartment in search of a bakery we had read about.  En route we passed by a medieval wall.

One never knows when one will pass by a medieval wall in Málaga

We checked out the bakery (may return when they are restocked with bread) and then headed back to the apartment just after 7: 00 p.m. when the sun was setting.  Lovely light on our street.

Walking up our street

Alano made an excellent meal.  We started with artichokes, then pasta with a fresh tomato and chorizo sauce, a salad and a nice Rioja.  Dessert from a nearby Moroccan bakery.

Artichoke first course

Another great day!