Picasso Museum — A discovery
Picasso for me was always one of the artists everyone seemingly says they like but I never really “got it”, I think possibly because my exposure was always to his Cubism work, which while some of it was “cool” a lot didn’t resonate with me.
However this leads me to a rediscovering of Picasso through visiting the Museum in Barcelona, which has a lot of his early work from draft drawings, paintings, studies of masters, classical work, pottery and then to his later cubism work and other bits in-between.
There was an audio guide available but I chose not to use it, but rather that I thought Picasso would have wanted me to enjoy his art pieces listening to EDM, I feel it made the experience better.
My first big thing I noticed was his gesture drawings, he really was excellent at capturing the essence of a scene with just a few lines. Gesture sketches have always had a fascination for me, both when I draw and when I see others work, a good gesture somehow tells more than a finished piece.
The second big thing with his drawings was I noticed his early studies had anatomical or perspective mistakes, whether intentional or not is debatable, but it actually made me more enamoured to him as an artist, because from my own experience it can be incredibly frustrating trying to make things “perfect” and it’s somehow reassuring to know even the greats had a journey.
There is of course no doubt that he was an excellent classically trained artist and his studies of other masters, or life drawings attest to his skill as a drafts-man and a painter.
I’d like to clarify that I am not overly knowledgeable on art, I never was trained, nor have I spent a lot of time studying the well known artists, although I’m catching up with visits such as these.
To my defence I did recognise some of his more famous pieces but a lot of his work I’ve never really seen, so stumbling across this following piece really made me stop and appreciate his work, to me it was by far the best piece in the collection and a wonderful piece of art.

It’s quite a large painting, you are drawn to it as you enter the room, the eyes that seem to look through you are the first thing you notice. The striking colours and then obvious mixture of styles, the seemingly “unfinished” aspect provides a delightful contrast. I was pretty memorised and actually went back to look at it a second time.
The rest of the collection varies and it really does help you gain a new respect and appreciation for his later work, you get a real sense of where he was trying new things but also where he came from.
So if you find yourself like me unsure of Picasso and you’re in Barcelona, go to the Picasso museum, it does not have his most famous work but it is an inspiring collection, especially if you have any inclination as an artist yourself.
P.S. He also did some pottery, but I don’t have much opinion on that, they were nice too…
