Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was born in Malaga and though he moved away during childhood, the southern Spanish city has kept a long vigil for its most famous son. Since the opening of Malaga’s Picasso Museum in 2003, other art institutions have followed and the historic port has enjoyed a cultural flowering. Make a tour of the city via these Picasso sites.
The Casa Natal Museum covers Picasso's early life / Image: Alamy
His birthplace
The Casa Natal Museum houses important artefacts in the story Picasso, such as family photos, selected artworks and even infant clothing worn by the artist when he just was knee-high to a hyper-stylised grasshopper.
His baptism church
Although an avowed atheist, Picasso was nonetheless baptised at the Church of Santiago, an easy-on-the-eye medieval beauty dating to 1509. In later years he enjoyed returning to religious and spiritual themes, so something probably stuck. Find it at 78 Calle Granada.
His school
Picasso attended the Instituto Vicente Espinel, where he sat his exams in June 1891. Around the marble-columned courtyard you’ll find assorted plaques and photographs celebrating famous pupils, including Picasso, Nobel Prize-winner Severo Ochoa and poet Manuel Altolaguirre.
Malaga's Picasso Museum / Image: Museo Picasso Malaga
His brushwork
How better to explore the father of Cubism’s legacy than through his work, at the Picasso Museum. Some 155 pieces were donated by his own family after his death, while the collection also includes private artefacts and photographs exploring in some detail the private life of this peerless artistic icon.
His statue
Grab a cheeky selfie with the great man himself, eternally gazing at people with his sketchbook and rendered in bronze by Francisco López Hernández, on a bench in one of the busiest and most beautiful squares in Malaga. Find it at Plaza de la Merced.
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