In March this year the Museo Picasso Málaga opened a new permanent exhibition at the Palacio de Buenavista entitled Pablo Picasso: Structures of Invention. The Unity of a Life’s Work, which the public can view until the spring of 2027. Totalling one hundred and forty four works – ten of which can be seen in Spain for the first time – it reveals the personality of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) and his amazing capacity for innovation in modern art. Michael FitzGerald, Kluger Family Professor of Art History at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut (USA), has supervised this creative layout which includes painting, sculpture, drawing, ceramic ware and graphic work, and challenges the conventional divisions of Picasso’s work.

Until the end of March visitors had the chance to view The Echo of Picasso, a show curated by Éric Troncy to mark the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death which proposed a dialogue between the Málaga-born artist’s work and that of other contemporary artists. In addition, the monographic show María Blanchard. Painter in Spite of Cubism, devoted to this woman painter (1881–1932) who was notable for her contribution to the modern movement, ran until September. It was curated by José Lebrero, former director of the Museo Picasso Málaga.

From 15 June to 15 December the Museo Picasso Málaga presented a major exhibition entitled Joel Meyerowitz. Europe 1966–1967, which featured the early work of New York photographer Joel Meyerowitz (1938) and was curated by Miguel López-Remiro, the Museum’s artistic director. The show was accompanied by an interesting series of contemporary flamenco performances, Flamenco x Joel Meyerowitz, in which leading artists such as Carmen Linares took part. In addition, since 21 November the Museum has hosted the guest work More Sweetly Play the Dance by William Kentridge, which will be on display until April 2025. The Ebola crisis inspired the South African artist to produce this immersive videographic installation which evokes displacements of migrants triggered by various threats.

Finally, Reflections. Picasso / Koons at the Alhambra opened on Monday 16 December marking the start of a project whose first show examines the relationship between Pablo Picasso’s oeuvre and that of Jeff Koons in the context of the Palacio de Carlos V, the collection of the Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada, and the unique setting of the Alhambra.

Visitors to the museum totalled 792,353 during 2024. It is significant to note the high degree of participation in educational and cultural activities, as some 25,000 people visited the museum to attend the many events held: lectures, seminars, courses, screenings, talks, roundtables and concerns of various kinds. Activities of this type complement and broaden the exhibition programme.

The Museo Picasso Málaga enriches the city’s cultural agenda and is constantly evolving in keeping with a period in which art, culture and thought are more necessary than ever. This is the museum’s contribution to the city of birth of the artist who conquered the twentieth century and whose legacy remains alive in the twenty-first century.