Pablo Picasso: 43 Works

Pablo Picasso: 43 Works, comprised chiefly of paintings, sculptures and ceramic pieces executed by the artist in different periods and styles, completes the Museo Picasso Málaga’s permanent collection. This temporary loan features a group of nineteen works never previously shown to the public, such as Woman at the Door to a Dance painted in 1899, which proves that Picasso was interested in social outcasts before he left Spain; a Cubist Composition from the summer of 1920; and the Reclining Nude produced at Mougins in 1960. Other notable pieces are the Nude Man contemplating his sleeping companion, which he executed in pencil and oil in the summer of 1922, and the Head of Woman in blues and greys, dated 1947. Another striking work is Woman, painted on canvas by Picasso when he was 90 years old and featuring a woman with a bird in expressive shades of blue.

Walking through the eleven galleries in which the permanent collection is displayed, viewers can trace the development of Picasso’s art: the first room contains canvases linked by a close, family connection; the second illustrates his return to classicism in the 1920s after Cubism; the third contains a series of portraits that engage with the spectator; and the fourth features a series of works that attest to the continuation of his Cubist concerns. The fifth room displays portraits of women produced during the years Guernica was taking shape; the sixth reproduces voluptuous female forms; the seventh is devoted to the artist’s studio as a laboratory; and the eighth reveals how women were an obsession, with several female poses. Room nine pays tribute to Olga Khokhlova; room ten shows a cyclical artist who progressively returns to questions dealt with earlier; and the last room brings together pictures on animal themes with a cat, a dove and a minotaur.

This reorganisation of the collection eschews a chronological or stylistic arrangement and focuses instead on showing the oeuvre of an artist that enables visitors to devise their own routes.