31st January 2012

Farewell to Pepe Serra: assessment of a phase

When our director Pepe Serra said goodbye to the team at the Museu Picasso he told us: ‘We have done ten years’ work in five years.’ What follows is a brief summary of some of the projects carried out during his time as director.

· Research and development of exhibitions that contribute knowledge and added value.

“Feasting on Paris. Picasso 1900-1907” (2011). Self-Portrait with Palette, Picasso, Paris, 1906 |  “Picasso Looks at Degas” (2010). Read more »

30th December 2011

The Museu Picasso’s 2011 in images

The task of choosing the most representative images of this year that is coming to an end was far from easy. Between us, we have worked on a lot of projects! Exhibitions, activities, research and restoration, education, registrar, library, publications, communications, administration, visitor services… it’s a long list. Here, then, is just a taste of what the museum has done in 2011.

Read more »

7th December 2011

At the Club we talk about creative drawing and much more

Parle-leur de batailles, de rois et d’élephants, by Mathias Enard, was a terrific starting point for a discussion not only of the novel itself (about the mysterious and undocumented journey that Michelangelo made to Istanbul to design a bridge for the Golden Horn that would connect the two halves of the city) but also of other issues more or less related to the text, from the representation of otherness and the conflict between Orientalism and the reality of the East to Picasso and the great artists that in one way or another we read through Michelangelo and his way of thinking and practising total art. The conversation was very interesting and the large turnout participated enthusiastically.

Sketches illustrating an article about Michelangelo’s supposed visit to Istanbul. Source Read more »

17th November 2011

Unsolved Mysteries at the Museu Picasso

This weekend we launched the second season of ‘The Mysterious Case of the missing Picasso’, a family treasure hunt through the galleries with plenty of intrigue.

Mateu begins his investigations (Joan Forns, from Cia. La Paparra). Photo: Jordi Mota Read more »

10th November 2011

How to set up a Big Draw (Museu Picasso-style)

On Sunday 23 October we celebrated the second annual Big Draw Festival of Drawing, an initiative originally launched in London that explores drawing not only as a creative medium but also as a great form of communication, learning and recreation for people of all ages.

Read more »

8th November 2011

Enrique Vila-Matas, guest author at the Reading Club

Enrique Vila-Matas was the centre of attention at the second session of this season’s Reading Club. With the past exhibition “Feasting on Paris. Picasso 1900-1907” as a reference, we talked with him about his partly autobiographical novel París no se acaba nunca. One of the things he told us: ‘I received the Barcelona inheritance of Picasso and Miró in looking at Paris culturally.’

Reading Club session Read more »

25th October 2011

Big Draw. The Festival of Drawing in pictures!

Big Draw in Barcelona has been a great participatory event thanks to you all. See you next year!!!

Here you have a small selection of photos of the day! Read more »

17th October 2011

The Reading Club is back, with Fernande Olivier in the spotlight

Last Thursday saw the start of the second season of the Museu Picasso Reading Club. Last year I cam along to the Club as an ordinary member, but this time round I was asked to lead the discussion about the memoir by Fernande Olivier, Recuerdos íntimos.

Read more »

13th October 2011

The Emotion of the Blot: the influence of Paris on Picasso

The exploration of new techniques in picture-making, which was a crucial concern for the artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, did not pass unnoticed by the young Pablo Picasso.

Arnau Puig front of the The Wait (Margot) Read more »

14th June 2011

What do the Museu Picasso, Europeana and cultural hackers have in common?

That’s easy: the philosophy of making content and tools available to users. The Museu Picasso has a collection and the aim of extending knowledge and enjoyment of it to the greatest possible number of users. The Europeana internet portal, which currently offers access to some 19 million cultural objects, has the same aim as the Museum. The expert developers have the skills and the talent to make the data ‘play’ and extract open applications that are made accessible to the public.

This happy triangulation has proved an ideal culture medium, helping make the Hackathon event in Barcelona and the prototypes it featured such a success. Invited by Europeana, programmers from Catalonia, the rest of Spain, France, Italy and The Netherlands worked intensely over a day and a half to create a total of 17 projects. The venue? The future library of the Museu Picasso’s new Centre for Knowledge and Research, a bright and spacious facility with a great window looking onto Plaça Jaume Sabartés — a perfect setting for exploring and creating knowledge. Read more »