Picasso: Barcelona

Picasso: Paisajes de Barcelona, Museu Picasso, Barcelona, 29 May – 18 September. Exhibition focusing on local landscapes painted and drawn by Picasso mainly between 1895 and 1903 as he was developing his own personal style. He returned to paint the city once more in 1917 in a radically different manner. The works are shown beside archival photographs of the views. As the Ruiz Picasso family first settled in Barcelona close to the port, the earliest views (1895-99) are of the sea, its breakwaters, port facilities and nearby streets and factories. He later moved his attention to ceremonial and ancient Barcelona , focusing on the Romanesque and Gothic cloisters of its  Cathedral and churches in the Ciutat Vella, and also developed skyline views as seen from his families rooftop terrace or azotea. In the early 20^th century he increasingly developed views through windows, portals and doorways capturing, contrasting or merging the internal and external.