Hence, today we’ll be guiding you through the most remarkable artworks in the museum. We won’t be able to see it all —one needs at least a few days to do so— but it will satisfy those who crave artistic fulfillment in Spain’s capital city. The Prado Museum in Madrid is one of the city’s main tourist attractions, gathering between 2 and 3 million visitors each year. Without further ado, let’s explore the treasures of the Prado Museum.

The museum’s art collection is organized following a specific criterion, generally on the basis of the paintings’ place of origin, but it’s more interesting to focus on the artists thesmselves. Our tour begins with a look at Renaissance paintings, even though the Prado’s collection encompasses pieces that go way back.

When it comes to the Renaissance period, we’ll find a self-portrait of Durero. He appears dressed in rich clothing, this way claiming the artist’s dignity with the aim of proving that their profession's status overcomes that of an artisan. There are two other pieces we cannot miss here: The Descent from the Cross and The Garden of Earthly Delights.

The former was created by Van der Weiden in the first half of the 15^th century and it constitutes the perfect example of Early Netherlandish painting. Its composition, thoroughness and plasticity are some of the painting’s distinguishing features. Van der Weiden depicts in it a scene where Jesus is being taken off the cross by Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene and John the Evangelist; in the face of the latter, we can even see a stream of tears flowing down while he is holding the arm of the Virgin Mary.

The Garden of Earthly Delights is a complex artwork by Hieronymus Bosch, finished approximately in the year 1500 and currently exhibited in the Prado Museum.

The left panel of this triptych painting pictures the paradise of Adam and Eve, whereas the panel on the right side depicts hell. On the other hand, the centre panel renders our earthly world, and we can see there a series of meaningful symbols such as fruits and crystal items that allude to the ephemeral nature of pleasure, which many humans desperately seek. The painting intends to moralize the viewers displaying these symbols along with the respective punishments and torments that we see in the panel depicting hell.

After these artists comes El Greco, riding to and fro Renaissance and Baroque. In this tour we’ll stop at one of his most emblematic paintings: The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest.

This painting was recently restored, and it conforms the archetype of the late 16^th century portrait. That can clearly be seen in the hand gesture and the pose conveying dignity. However, if there is a painting that most defines El Greco’s particular style, with its long mannerist figures and bright colours applied through loose yet effective brushstrokes, it’s definitely La Trinidad.

You can also read this article in Spanish and French.

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Visiting the unknown museums of Madrid

The museum of forensic anthropology 

Madrid’s museum of forensic anthropology, founded by the university professor Reverte Coma, is one of the most peculiar unknown museums of Madrid. Its history is closely related to the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, whose labs gathered an interesting collection of bone remains from different sources during the 80s. Dr. José Manuel Reverte decided to open a museum to exhibit said objects so that students of medicine and other similar fields could personally examine them. 

The museum opened its doors to the public in 1996. As stated by the university, by 1997 they had already gathered 2000 skulls, a collection of South American and Egyptian mummies, bones found in archaeological excavations, Judicial Archives and murder weapons. 

African Museum

More than displaying a set of items, the African Museum provides a journey into the heart of the continent, which has been stereotyped and ostracised by Western culture so many times. It was founded in 1985 by the Misioneros Colombianos, and it aims at becoming an open window to the African continent. 

To that end, the building exhibits objects from different African countries, as well as private collections. All visits, which are always guided, include four phases: African clothing, hunting tools, musical instruments, artworks and, lastly, a brief introduction to the spiritual life of Africa. 

Museo de Veterinaria Militar

This might be the strangest museum from the list yet. Just as its name suggests, the Museum of Military Veterinary Medicine (originally in Spanish, “Museo de Veterinaria Militar”) is a collection of objects that tell the history of military veterinary medicine. The museum opened in 1942, it lies in the Centro Militar de Veterinaria de la Defensa (“Military Centre of Veterinary Defence”) and it exhibits a series of items related to the subject: uniforms, surgical instruments, vet equipment… 

Museo ABC de Dibujo e Ilustración

Museo ABC opened in 2010, and one of the most remarkable aspects about it is probably its location: a futuristic building that was also the first factory of Mahou beer in the capital. It was designed by architect José López Salaberry, who also designed other avant-garde buildings such as the Casino de Madrid. Years later, the architects of Aranguren & Gallegos renovated the place. 

Regarding the interior of the museum, which shares space with the Centro Cultural Clara del Rey, it hosts a collection of about 200 000 drawings by more than 1 500 artists. These pieces go all the way from 1891 to the late 20th century, and they have all illustrated the pages of the Spanish daily newspaper ABC or the magazine Blanco y Negro. All in all, these artworks explore the history of Spain through illustrations. 

The Lázaro Galdiano Museum

This is another unknown museum of Madrid. However, experts consider it really valuable, and it is an essential museum when it comes to looking at the history of art. It was inaugurated in 1951 with more than 12 600 pieces gathered by collector and editor José Lázaro Galdiano. It is worth mentioning the paintings, drawings and engravings by renowned Spanish artist Francisco de Goya here. This museum holds some of his most notable works, like Witches' Sabbath, or The Adolescent Saviour, painted in the art studio of Leonardo da Vinci. We can recognise many other renowned artists here, like El Greco, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, El Bosco… 

House-museum of Lope de Vega

Lope de Vega is one of the most acclaimed writers in the history of Spain. Indeed, he played a key role in the Spanish Golden Age of literature. Between 1610 and 1635, this famous author, who also became known for his love affairs, lived in a little house on the street of Cervantes, in the area called Barrio de las Letras. After he left, this house had many other owners who renovated the property. However, in the 1930s, the Royal Spanish Academy (“Real Academia Española”) got hold of the house. They reshaped it so that it would resemble the home of the writer, and they turned it into a museum. Currently, the visitor can walk into the house of Lope de Vega, which still keeps some of the original furniture. 

Real Fábrica de Tapices 

The Real Fábrica de Tapices (“Royal Tapestry Factory”) is not a usual museum, since it has no free entry. Instead, one must book a visit to see it. The visitor will not only admire beautiful carpets, paintings and tapestries dating back to the 18th-20th centuries, but they will also witness how those are crafted today. The factory has never stopped running, and it keeps producing items for clients worldwide. This museum provides an interesting experience and its works of art masterfully depict Spanish textile art.  

La Neomudéjar

Without a doubt, La Neomudéjar is one of the most avant-garde museums in Madrid. It lies in an old railway workshop of Neo-Mudéjar style in Atocha, and the museum hosts a wide range of artistic disciplines, including parkour, performances, urban art, video art, sound art and new media art.  Its fundamental purpose is to act as a centre for experimentation and creation, whose collections are nomadic, alive, always in motion. 

House-museum of Ratoncito Pérez

The Spanish Tooth Fairy is actually a mouse, and he has a name: Ratoncito Pérez. The origin of this figure is uncertain, but his first recorded appearance is a tale written by Luis Coloma Roldán in the late 19th century for Spanish king Alfonso XIII when he was still a child. According to the tale, the little mouse lived in Arenal, 8, right where the current museum stands. 

This way, both kids and adults can visit the house of the beloved childhood character Ratoncito Pérez. One can get to know his home, the mailbox he uses to receive letters from children, a human-scale replica of the mouse’s study, and so on. 

The Typhlological Museum 

The Typhlological Museum, created by ONCE, is doubtlessly one of the most remarkable unknown museums of Madrid. According to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, typhlology is “the scientific study of blindness, its causes, effects, and control”. This cultural space was inaugurated in 1992, and it lies in the street of La Coruña. The museum gathers models of monuments and other artworks created by blind people, and the main focus of the experience relies on touch and hearing. Besides, the Typhlological Museum exhibits a series of documents and materials regarding the history of blind people. 

The Cerralbo Museum

The Cerralbo Museum (“Museo Cerralbo” in Spanish) is a palatial house that used to belong to the marquis of Cerralbo. Interestingly enough, it was conceived as both a museum and a house from the very beginning. The visitor will be able to enjoy no less than 50 000 artworks including paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture and other items. This collection makes the Cerralbo Museum one of the best examples of an aristocratic dwelling from the nineteenth-century Madrid. 

You can also read this article in Spanish here.

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Romanticism, a period of change

Before we come into the palace, we should perhaps understand what Romanticism really is and where it comes from. To this effect, we will travel back to the 18th century, when the socio-economic political doctrine known as Liberalism came into existence in opposition to the conservatism of the Ancien Régime. Likewise, historians mark the beginning of the Modern Age and the end of the Middle Ages in that same period, which also encompasses the French Revolution. 

As we can see, this was a time of change, and there had to be an artistic movement capturing these new ideas. Said movement happened to be Romanticism, which, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, was “a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement originating in the 18th century, characterized chiefly by a reaction against neoclassicism and an emphasis on the imagination and emotions”.  

Even though some aspects of Romanticism differ depending on the country, others were consistent worldwide. For instance, the Romantic movement placed feelings and emotions above rationalism and the values preached by the Enlightenment. Romantics believed in individualism and the importance of the self, and they drew inspiration from nature and nationalism. These shared aspects are, among others, the backbone of Romanticism. 

The movement arrived in Spain later than in other parts of Europe, but it didn’t last long. This happened mainly due to the fact that Realism played a central role in Spain from the mid-19th century. Hence, Spanish Romanticism spanned from the first half of said century to the 1870s. One of the most celebrated artworks from this time period is Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla. Other remarkable Spanish Romantics were José de Espronceda, Rosalía de Castro and Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. 

The history of the Museum of Romanticism 

The origin story of the Museum of Romanticism begins in 1921, when the Sociedad Española de Amigos del Arte organized an exhibition devoted to Romanticism. The catalogue Tres salas del Museo Romántico was written accordingly. Benigno de la Vega-Inclán, second marquis of Vega-Inclán, wrote a foreword expressing his intention of creating a museum of Romanticism that would display pieces from the time period between the Peninsular War (1808) and the end of the Hispano-Moroccan War (1860). This is how the project of the museum started up. 

The museum was officially founded in 1924, after they rented the palace of the marquis of Matallana. This was made possible thanks to the donations of Vega-Inclán. After his death, the government acquired both the property and its assets. However, in 1945 the museum reopened with Mariano Rodríguez de Rivas as its director. He expanded the facilities by adding a library and an assembly hall, and the museum began to host art events. 

A journey to our Romantic past

The museum has gone through several reforms over the years. It hosts a remarkable collection comprising hundreds of paintings, miniatures, furnishings, vignettes, and pictures, among other things. The interior of the palace mimics the Romantic style, with Elizabethan tapestry, portraits by Federico Madrazo and antique boudoirs that bring the visitor to the everyday life of the bourgeoisie of the Romantic period.  

This way, mirroring the modus operandi of historic house museums, this building reproduces the rooms and atmosphere of nineteenth-century wealthy families. Some of the most important rooms are the ballroom, where they used to arrange all the social gatherings, the dining room, and the auditorium. The portrait of Elizabeth II by Madrazo, the paintings of Sátira del Suicidio Romántico by Leonardo Alenza, and the writing desk in the study are some of the key items the visitor simply cannot miss. Besides, every inch of this journey to the past comes along with the echoes of Romantic poetry.  

Front picture: Another room in the museum. | Wikimedia

The building of the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville

The Museum of Fine Arts of Seville occupies the building of the former Convent of La Merced Calzada. 

This current building is the result of the transformations of the beginning of the 17th century. The old building was demolished and a new construction was carried out. The architect in charge of the project was Juan de Oviedo y Montera.

Work on the church began in 1603 and was completed in 1612. However, the rest of the complex would take about fifty years more. 

This new building has undergone three interventions until today. The first was carried out in the 19th century. The arches, walls and the cloister were restored. 

Then, the second was carried out in the first half of the 20th century. The courtyard of Las Conchas was opened, and the main Baroque façade was moved to Calle Bailén.

The third one, around the 90's, was destined to the general remodelling of the building. This reform also had a museographic focus.

The collection of the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville

The collections of the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville, like those of other provincial museums, have their origins in the disentailments of the 19th century. Works were gathered from the convents and other ecclesiastical properties of Seville.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the museum's collections were extended. Numerous collections of illustrious local figures were donated to the museum. Some of them were Rafael Gonález Abreu's or Andrés Parladé's.

Since the museum passed into the hands of the Junta de Andalucía, the museum has acquired new collections. A total of fifty-seven works have been deposited. Among the new works, those by artists from the Seville school and their descendants stand out.

Masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville

We cannot speak of the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville without mentioning Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. The museum has several works by the Sevillian painter.

Among the most outstanding is the Inmaculada Concepción (1650), known as La Colosal, and one of his most prodigious works. 

The Virgen de la servilleta (1666), created for the Church of Los Capuchinos in Seville, is also noteworthy. According to tradition, Murillo would have painted a sketch of this work on a napkin.

He also painted Saints Justa y Rufina (1666) for the Capuchinos. Murillo's artistic maturity can be seen in his use of light and shadow.

In the context of the Seville school, several works by Zurbarán also stand out. Among the museum's collection is the Virgen de las Cuevas (1655). You can also enjoy his illustrious work San Hugo en el Refectorio (1655).

In addition, we can find other magnificent examples of Sevillian Baroque painting.

Artists such as Juan de Valdés Leal and his Flagelación de San Jerónimo (1657) and José de Ribera cover the walls of the museum. Of the latter, works such as Santiago el Mayor (1634) stand out.

The work of El Greco is also present in the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville. Especially relevant is the Portrait of Jorge Manuel (ca. 1600), the painter's son.

The Museum of Fine Arts of Seville also has important works by artists from the 19th century and the end of the century. Sevillian painters such as Bilbao Martínez are worthy of note.

In Las Cigarreras (1915) he recreates a sweet maternal scene, at the same time as the working atmosphere in a tobacco factory.

In our tour of the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville we cannot forget the work of Ignacio Zuloaga. The Basque artist was closely linked to Andalusia, as can be seen in Bailaora, Antonia La Gallega (1912).

In the field of sculpture, the museum preserves beautiful polychrome carvings. La Prudencia (1618) by Juan de Solís belongs to a series of four fascinating allegories.

Useful information for your visit to the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville

Location: Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla. Plaza del Museo, 9. 41001 Seville.

Phone: 955 54 29 42

Web: website of the Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla.

The opening hours, and also the prices can be consulted updated here.

Frank Gehry and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

This construction meant a recovery of this area, as well as an important impulse for the offer of culture and leisure of the city. Due to its design and the complexity of the curvilinear shapes, Gehry used a software from the aerospace sector in order to express his architectural project accurately.

The structure of the museum is made up of 33,000 thin titanium plates that are combined with other elements in limestone and glass. Different chromatic effects are generated depending on the prevailing atmosphere thus. Its design and configuration make it an ideal building for the collection it houses. 

The atrium is the heart of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. It is a large diaphanous space where curved shapes predominate. A series of glass curtain walls connect the interior and exterior, and a large central skylight illuminates the room. Gehry sought to create a sculptural structure that would be integrated into the urbanism of Bilbao.

Essentials

With this sculpture Koons evokes the classic European garden of the 18th century. In addition, it includes references to contemporary culture. It might be the most iconic and remembered piece by the visitors of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

It shows the duality of maternity: protector and predator since the spider uses its silk both to fabricate the bud and capture its prey. The mother’s legs worked as a cage and as a den that holds the eggs found in its abdomen. 

Koons transforms an ordinary element (such as the tulips) into something hard, notable and shiny. Tulipanes is an sculpture that transmits a sense of optimism to the spectator, as well as a great colouring. Its colour and originality make that it is one of the most photographed works by the visitors of the museum.

This masterpiece of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao allows him to experiment with games of lights and shadows, as well as the processes of disintegration and decomposition of shapes. The fog also acts as a moulding element of its environment.

As you go through the different sculptural forms, a dizzy sensation of space and movement is created. You can also perceive the passage of time. On the one hand, the chronological time it takes you to travel through it and, on the other, the time of experience in which forms are combined in space.

Plan your visit to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

GPS coordinates: 43° 16′ 6.98″ N, 2° 56′ 3.43″ O.

Phone: +34 944 35 90 80.

Website: Museo Guggenheim.

You can get to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao by both public or private transport.

By underground: ‘Moyua’ stop, ‘Ercilla-Guggenheim’ way out

By bus: 

• Routes 01, 10, 13, 18 and A7 at the stop: ‘Museo 1 / Henao’.
• Routes 13, 27, 38 and 48 at the stops: ‘Alda. Recalde 31 and 11’ and ‘Alda. Recalde 12’.
• Routes 11 71 at the stops: ‘La Salve / Igogailua’ and ‘Campo Volantín / La Salve’.

The extraordinary Bilbao Fine Arts Museum is very close. 

If you plan to stay longer in Bilbao, here you have some recommendations to discover some secret places, try tortilla de patatas or Basque pintxos.

The current building of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

The new art gallery was designed by architects Fernando Urrutia and Gonzalo Cárdenas, and it was inaugurated in 1945. However, the rapid grow of the collections meant that space quickly became insufficient. In 1970 the building was extended under the direction of Jorge de Barandiarán.

In the 1990s the need for museums and the lack of space for museum services forced a new architectural intervention. This construction work finished in 2001 and it is the current image of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum.

The collection of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

Masterpieces

One of the most famous is the portrait of el Conde de Villamarciel, painted during his first years in Paris. It makes evident his contact with the synthetism from the late 19th century. Another important work is El Cardenal seated inside a sober room decorated with Castilian furniture, where the curtains drew allow us to contemplate the stunning landscape of the village of Sepúlveda.

Lastly, it is also very popular the portrait of the Condesa Mathieu de Noailles, lying in her divan staring into space. It is loaded with symbolism and theatricality. This is evidencied in both items located over the bedside table and the large backdrop, respectively.

In the field of painting, Lucas Cranach el Viejo and his work Lucrecia, which is an essential work in the Central European Renaissance, are popular. There are also the Anunciación by El Greco and the tenebrism of San Sebastián curado por las santas mujeres by José de Ribera.

Impressionism in Spain was introduced by Adolfo Guiard with his work Aldeanita del clavel rojo.

Synthetism was introduced by Paul Gaugin and his work Lavanderas en Arlés. Figurative expressionism by Francis Bacon and informalism by Antoni Tàpies.

Plan your visit to the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

GPS coordinates: 43º 15'58''N 2º56'16''O.

Phone: +34 944 396 060

Website: www.museobilbao.com

Getting to the Bilbao Museum of Fine Arts by public transport is very convenient. You can do it by underground (Moyúa station), by tram (Abandoibarra and Guggenheim stop). Also by bus (lines 1,10,13, 18, 26, 27, 28, 38, 48, 56, 72, 77 and A3247 Bilbao-Airport).

Opening times: Wednesdays to Mondays, from 10.00 a.m to 8.00 p.m.

Admission fee: general 10€. There are some reduced and free admission fees to certain groups.

Free: de 18 a 20h.

If you would like to enjoy the city centre of Bilbao here you have our website with the best places to try tortilla, pintxos and hotels in case you want to overnight there.

Do not forget to visit the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum.

The building of the Camen Thyssen Museum

As already mentioned, the Palace of Villalón houses the museum. It is a Renaissance building of the 16th century. It has two floors and a central courtyard around which the rooms are arranged.

Carmen Cervera and the City Council came to an agreement. The baroness would bring her collection to Málaga and the City Council would provide it a headquarter.

Thus, the Palace was restored between 2007 and 2011. In addition to the existing building, two new ones were added. 

The museum holds the baroness collection as well as the headquarters of its foundation. Furthermore, it also holds a library,  a temporary exhibition hall and a assembly room, among many others.

It was finally opened on 24 March 2011.

The collection of the Carmen Thyssen Museum

The museum’s art collection benefits from the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection. It includes works from the 19th and 20th centuries.

There is a special interest in the Andalusian art, but you can also find some pieces of work by “old masters” such as Zurbarán.

The museum is divided into four sections:

• Old masters. It includes artists from the 13th century to the 17th century such as Francisco de Zurbarán and Jerónimo Ezquerra.
• Romantic landscape and costumbrism. It shows the two main themes of the 19th century Spanish romantic painting. On the one hand, the interpretation artists made of the landscape. On the other hand, the traditional customs.
• Précieuses and landscape painting. It shows the development suffered by the Spanish painting during the second half of the 19th century. It became more colourful and it was also adopted a great naturalism. 
• End of the century. This section includes some Spanish painters on the international scene of the late 19th century. Some of the exhibits are: Ignacio Zuloaga, Joaquín Sorolla, Aureliano de Beruete and Francisco Iturrino.

Masterpieces

The most famous work made by the old masters is Santa Marina by Zurbarán. The painter from Badajoz makes a very personal representation of the saint. Her figure shines over a dark background.

She wears a black wide-brimmed hat and a white shirt with a black bodice. In addition to a red woollen skirt with a green overskirt. Likewise, she carries a stick that ends in a hook, as an allusion to her martyrdom, and the Gospel.

This painting shows the fascination of romantics to reinterpret landscapes and monuments from the past. Vilaamil increases the proportions of the environment. Furthermore, he modifies the chromatism giving it great brilliance.

This painting, with an international vision, captures the nightlife scene of the worldly Paris of the late 19th century. Madrazo also deals with the theme of masks, a leitmotiv of the European artists of the time.

Julia Peraire was one of his favourite models. She was a lottery ticket seller that the painter met in the Maison Dorée and with whom he would later get married. Casas, though a sensitive use of the colour, represents his wife seated wearing very spanish clothes.

Plan your visit to the Carmen Thyssen Museum

Phone: +34 902 30 31 31

Website: https://www.carmenthyssenmalaga.org

Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 a.m to 8.00 p.m. (Closed on Mondays except bank holidays).

Admission fee: General 10€. There are some reduced and free admission fees to certain groups. 

If you would like to enjoy the city centre of Málaga here you have our website the best things to do and the best restaurants to eat.Do not forget to visit the Málaga Cathedral, another Renaissance temple in the city.

The building of the Museo Picasso Málaga

The Buenavista Palace was built in 1530 by the city alderman Diego de Cazalla. It is a Renaissance palace with two floors around an arcaded patio.

It was remodeled at the middle of the 20th century in order to hold the Fine Arts Museum of Málaga. Finally, and to the present day, it became the headquarters of the Museo Picasso.

Two houses annexed to the museum were purchased for this new museum. They were then demolished in order to build a temporary exhibition hall, as well as an assembly hall.

A new expansion was needed due to the archaeological findings of the Phoenician Málaga. A library, educational rooms, an auditorium and some offices were added to the main building.

The collection of the Museo Picasso Málaga

The origin of the Picasso Museum lies in Pablo Picasso's desire to exhibit his work in his hometown. However, the conversations with Juan Temboury, the provincial delegate of the Fine Arts of Málaga, did not succeed.

The joint initiative of Christine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the artist’s daughter-in-law and grandson, revived the project again.

The collection includes 223 Picasso’s works. They are all reunited in a museum project thanks to the collaboration of the Regional Government of Andalusia.

In March 2017, the museological discourse of the Picasso Museum was modified. Furthermore, a new selection of works was made. It allows the visitor to understand Picasso’s works since the beginning to his maturity.

This modification received the name of Pablo Picasso. Nueva Colección (Pablo Picasso. New Collection). The workshop had the collaboration of Endesa Foundation.

A tour along the museum

There are several sections within the line Pablo Picasso. New Collection. Each of them shows the evolution of his work in chronological order.

The first years of work are collected in the section Aprendiendo a pintar (learning to paint). It includes the period when Picasso learns with his father, as well as his time in La Coruña, Barcelona and Paris.

From these early stages it is famous the Retrato de Lola (1894) (Portrait of Lola). A female figure appears portrayed from the side in brown and yellow tones. The white of the hair fabric also contrasts with the rest of the chromatic range.

The portrait as a mirror corresponds to the influences of the non-European cultures in the Picasso’s work. In this section, paintings such as Cabeza de mujer (1907) (Head of a Woman) are particularly relevant.

He shows his originality in other portraits such as Busto de mujer (1939), where a woman appears with the arms folded behind her head. He reinvents the portrait from its subjectivity.

As in Las Señoritas de Aviñón (Les Demoiselles d’Avignon), the archaic art influence is notable in this portrait.

Between 1917 and 1924 Picasso travelled to Italy. There he was surrounded by classical art. In addition, he met Olga Khokhlova, a ballet dancer with whom he got married.

It was the time when he painted Las tres Gracias (1923) (The Three Graces). In this piece of work the great influence of the classic iconography can be seen.

Frutero (1919) (Fruit Bowl) dates back to the cubism period. He represents a single object from different angles. This painting on a neutral background is inspired by the death nature of Cézanne.

The unconscious and sculpture is dedicated to the most ‘surrealist’ period. Moreover, at this time and around 1930, Picasso devotes specially to sculpture. One of the exhibited works from this period is Bañista tendida (1931) (Reclining Bather).

The last piece of work we would like to mention is Mujer con los brazos levantados (1936) (Bust of a Woman with Arms Crossed Behind her Head). She is Dora Maar, whom he met in 1936. She became his partner later.

The Spanish Civil War affected Picasso’s mood in 1936. In this painting he celebrates his new love, but also shows the intensity of his work during this war.

Plan your visit to the Museo Picasso Málaga

Location: Palacio de Buenavista c/ San Agustín, 8. 29015 Málaga.

Phone: +34 952 12 76 00

Website: www.museopicassomalaga.org

As the museum schedules change over the course of the season, find out them updated here. There is also information about admission fees and group tours.

In order to enjoy the city centre of Málaga, here you have our travel guide, as well as some recommendations on restaurants around this area.