THE MALAGA PICASSO MUSEUM

written by María Dolores Arrózpide Liceaga , Malaga 20.2.2005

Along with its counterparts in Barcelona and Paris, Malaga's Picasso Museum is an essential port of call for admirers of this Malaga-born artistic genius. That's right, Malaga. Many believe he was French in view of the fact that he spent much of his life in our neighbouring country, or even Italian, given the sound of his surname.

But no, Picasso was born right here in Malaga and I believe that only Malaga could have nurtured his genius. (see texts I - II )

The Museum is of immense interest for a number of reasons: the quality of its permanent and temporary collections of Picasso's work, the building in which it is housed -Buenavista Palace-, its new wing in Malaga's old Jewish Quarter (see text III ) and, last but not least, the magnificent work of the guides who, rather than merely churning out explanations in robotic fashion, strive instead to involve each and every one of the students, whatever level of Spanish course they happen to be studying. All of the groups that visit the museum remark on how pleasant the experience has been.

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I.

No se elige el lugar donde se nace.
Nace en Málaga el niño,
se forja en Málaga el genio.
Un barrio popular, la plaza de la Merced, un pequeño cosmos donde cada quien es cada cual, pero es alguien.

Gente que no hace concesiones ni a la riqueza ni al poder.
Gente libre de sentir,
libre de expresar lo que siente.
De expresar con color lo que siente,
el don de la sal al hablar.

Despierta en Málaga el niño,
la luz entra en el genio.

¿Dónde sino ese mar inconfundible,
el color del paraíso en el cielo,
el verde brillante de las hojas?

¿Dónde sino esa raza de mujeres hermosas, espontáneas,
de hombres amables y bellos?

¿Dónde ese vivir pausado, sabio, donde cada instante es importante, porque brilla con luz propia ?

La mirada del genio no encuentra barreras.
No es insolente mirar lo que está a la vista.
¿Dónde sino esa mirada, que no busca, que encuentra?

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We do not choose where we are born.
The child is born in Malaga,
the genius is forged in Malaga.
A working-class district, Plaza de la Merced, a mini cosmos where everyone is anonymous, but everyone is someone.

People who make no concessions to wealth or power.
People who are free to feel,
Free to express what they feel.
To express what they feel with colour,
With their gift of the gab.

The child awakes in Malaga,
the genius is filled with light.

Where else but that unmistakeable sea,
the colour of paradise in the sea,
the bright green of the leaves?

Where else but that breed of beautiful, spontaneous women,
of friendly, handsome men?

Where else but that relaxed, wise way of life, where every instant matters because it shines with its own light?

The gaze of the genius meets with no barriers.
It is no insolence to look at what is already visible.
Where else but that gaze, that does not search but finds?

We do not choose where we are born. We do not choose to be born rich or poor, to come into a world of turmoil or a world of calm.

Talent comes to us from our parents, or the fortunate circumstances of the moment of our creation.

What makes someone shine so brightly that he is recognised in every corner of the world?

How does one become a universal genius?

How does one become Picasso?

Picasso. A man larger than life, a mythological creature, like the lines he is capable of sketching in a few brief seconds. A charismatic personality, insolent energy oblivious to the weaknesses of normal mortals.

Free, free to live, see and express what he sees and feels. We will find no concessions to wealth or power in his paintings.
In his paintings we will find the friend, the women or fragments of the women who make him feel, the bull and bullfighter that make him tingle with excitement.

In his work, we will find no vain attempts to capture in a tiny space the grandeur of nature or the masterpiece of a civilisation.
We will find the vivid look, the sensual expression, the beast that lies within us.
We will find light, the colour of life. Even a death scene, for he depicts death through life. For what is Picasso's Guernica if not a living representation of death itself?
We see ourselves in the relaxed poses, in the eyes that reflect a banal or private thought.

We do not choose where we are born.
The child is born in Malaga, the genius is forged in Malaga.

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II.

Through his work, Picasso keeps alive a connection that links him to our Mediterranean, to our region; this is no invention on our part. It is right there, in his work. It is in the imaginarium that he preserves and reinterprets throughout his life. It is in his mythology.

It is in his very being when he signs "Picasso, from Malaga". His first sketches depicting bullfighting, the ritual of death in the arena, have stayed with him since his childhood in Malaga. His first attempts at oil painting, looking out to sea close to the harbour. His first classes: drawing, composition, colour. All of this was born in a city in the throes of a plastic arts explosion. Denis, Simonet, Muñoz Degrain, Moreno Carbonero,Ocón;
the Malaga School of the XIX century.
Later come years of alienation from the memory of the land of his childhood. The monumental turmoil of the Civil War. Picasso and his work are exiled. It takes almost half a century for his status as a native of Malaga to be timidly restored. And a further half century before, as heralded by the press some six months earlier, Picasso is able to return to Malaga again. But it is more than just a homecoming; Picasso is reborn in Malaga. Reborn because Malaga once again claims him as her own. In a few short years, Picasso becomes an icon in the city. The restoration of the house in which he was born, converted for use as a museum and study centre for his work, is the first step on a path that leads to a series of exhibitions in the Episcopal Palace and culminates in the opening of the Malaga Picasso Museum. Born of the generosity of the Picasso family and the determination of the Cultural Council of the Andalusian Regional Government, these 8,000-m²-plus premises encompass the genius painter's whole artistic life in the shape of a permanent exhibition featuring over 300 works and a series of temporary exhibitions focusing on unique aspects of his career.

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III.

Its construction, based on an existing renaissance building, the Count of Buenavista's Palace, has also promoted the recovery of the old Jewish Quarter and the creation of an archaeological area that has seen renewed interest in the remains of the original settlement founded here by the Phoenicians. Over 30 centuries of history all in one place.

In addition to these modern developments, we must not forget the historical legacy left behind by the Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Muslim, Jewish and, of course, Christian civilisations. The Alcazaba fortress, the Gibralfaro Castle, the Roman Theatre, Malaga Cathedral and the renovated Historical Centre all combine with the Picasso Museum to create a unique collection of monuments for which Patrimony of Humanity status is soon to be requested.