Picasso Museum

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Wow, we really know our way around, we just follow our noses and are happy wherever we wind up. Today we slept in before going to the Picasso Museum in the El Born district, an easy walk from our hotel. Barcelona is a fantastic city for walking, the people watching is amazing and most sights are close. The Picasso Museum has works donated mostly by Picasso himself and shows his evolution from a student to a seasoned artist. We got the audioguide that was well worth it, essential information and background we would have missed. Some of his teenage works are surprising because of what came later. His father was an art teacher who recognized his talent and encouraged him from an early age. His portraits of his father are very sensitive and Picasso's self-portraits show a brooding young man, both with recognizable faces. Different influences including Toulouse-Lautrec show up very clearly in his work as well as new locations like Paris. Picasso actually selected the art - paintings, sketches, etchings, ceramics (donated by his wife after his death) and sculpture. We have a new appreciation for his work. He did a series of work based on Las Meninas by Velazquez. Of course, Picasso had his own special take on the classic work. Gary especially noticed that the dog kept re-occurring even as he left certain other key figures out of his paintings. The shift in color and tones in his work were also remarkable, so much to learn and notice. After spending close to four hours in the museum it was time for lunch and deciding what else wanted to see next. A Metro ride took us over to some other art museums up on Montjuic that turned out to close early on Sundays, it pays to know what day it is. Duh. So we hopped on the Barcelona Bus Turistic to get another view of the city, the breeze on the top level was refreshing and the sights interesting. Our dinner was fabulous, we had tapas at Xaloc in the Gothic district near the old Roman walls and the medieval cathedral. Gary got to practice his Spanish with our charming waitress. All in all another wonderful day.

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Photos

Las-Meninas-Picasso
Picasso's interpretation of Velasquez' Las Meninas

velasquez_meninas_1000
Velasquez' original of Las Meninas