A walk with Cristine
TEN EXCELLENT HIGHLIGHTS
OF PICASSO’S MÁLAGA
Picasso and
Málaga
We begin the route at number 15 Plaza de la Merced. This is where the painter was born on October 25, 1881 (although at that time the building was numbered 36). A couple of years later, the family moved to number 17. The site houses a valuable art collection, with works by Picasso and other contemporary artists. It also regularly organizes temporary exhibitions about the painter and his contemporaries, and it has an important specialized documentation center.
Bustamante Pharmacy
former Mamely Pharmacy
When the establishment was run by Antonio Mamely, the back room became a regular meeting place for the pharmacist’s friends, among them Picasso’s father, José Ruiz, a painter by profession.
Church of Santiago
Very nearby is the parish church where Pablo Picasso was baptized. According to the baptismal record on display, this took place on November 10, 1881, under the full name “Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios y Crispiniano de la Santísima Trinidad.” The church also stands out for its Baroque decoration and its Mudéjar tower.
On the same Granada Street, the current number 5,
was the jewelry shop that belonged to Picasso’s uncle, Baldomero Ghiara, who supported him financially during his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. Even today, in the current shop, one can still admire the beautiful allegories painted on the ceiling dating from the 19th century.
Picasso museum Málaga
From Granada Street we reach San Agustín Street, where the Picasso Museum Málaga is located. The painter from Málaga always wanted his work to be present in his hometown; and in 2003, with the opening of this museum in the Buenavista Palace, his wish was fulfilled. It displays a collection of more than 230 works by Picasso donated by the artist’s daughter-in-law and grandson, Christine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso. The holdings present the different artistic periods of Picasso through drawings, oils, prints, sculptures, and ceramics.
Studies
At the end of the street, next to the church of the same name, we discover the former convent and school of San Agustín. In the 19th century, this building housed Málaga’s municipal archive and museum. Picasso’s father was the museum’s curator and, as compensation for delayed wages, he was allowed to have his painting studio there. Pablo clearly remembered visiting his father’s studio, where he painted his popular dove pictures.
Church of
San Agustín, Málaga
Ateneo of Málaga – former School of Fine Arts of San Telmo.
We arrive at Plaza de la Constitución in search of the Ateneo of Málaga. During Picasso’s childhood it was the School of Fine Arts of San Telmo, where his father also worked as a professor of Linear Drawing. Although his son was not old enough to study there, his first artistic training took place in its classrooms on the occasions when he accompanied his father.
Courtyard of the Picasso Museum Vicente Espinel Institute
Located on Gaona Street, it was the secondary school where Picasso took the entrance exams in June 1891 to enroll in the institute in A Coruña, the city to which his family would move in October.
La Malagueta Bullring
In his childhood, Picasso attended many bullfights with his father. During those afternoons at the bullring, when he could see the most prominent bullfighters of the time, his fondness for bullfighting took shape—something that would later become one of his iconic artistic themes.
