PICASSO-BARCELONA. Una cartografia, brings to a close the programme of events celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Picasso Museum in Barcelona and the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death.
On Tuesday 5 December, Barcelona City Council, Editorial Tenov and the Museu Picasso will be launching PICASSO-BARCELONA. Una cartografia, a book produced by historian and conservator at the Museu Picasso until 2022, Claustre Rafart i Planas.
The work is a spatial biography of Pablo Picasso and, at the same time, a guide that reproduces and follows the map of turn-of-the-century Barcelona. The route proposed by Rafart takes in the Barcelona enclaves where as an adolescent, young man and adult, Picasso lived, passed through and left his mark, presenting the now well-known landmarks included in the Picasso route, and others that have not previously been revealed or directly linked with the artist.
In turn-of-the-century Barcelona, Pablo Ruiz Picasso left his adolescence to enter adulthood, and the student became an artist. At the same time, like many young people in the city, he embarked on the profession he had chosen and lived his life without notoriety until he started to stand out in avant-garde artistic circles and some media outlets started to pick up on his renown.
Structure of the book
The book is structured into six sections corresponding to the different periods of Picasso’s life in Barcelona: El descobriment de la ciutat [Discovering the city], 1895-1897; La ciutat bohèmia [The bohemian city], 1897-1900; Mirant cap a París [Looking towards Paris], 1900-1904; Estades barcelonines [Barcelona stays], 1904-1934; La ciutat enyorada [The missed city], 1934-1973; Homenatges de Barcelona a Picasso [Barcelona homages to Picasso]. Each chapter consists of a series of headings with a detailed explanation and the reproduction of works, period photographs of the places or documents linked to the particular Picasso enclave; and each section ends with a fold-out period map showing the location described under each heading. Each section consists of a series of micro-stories grouped under individual headings, each one corresponding to a place in the city linked to the figure of Picasso.
Book launch at the Museu Picasso
The launch will take place on Tuesday 5 December, at 7.30 pm, in the Neoclassical Room at the Picasso Museum (entrance via Palau Meca, Montcada, 19). To attend the launch you need to book here.
Participating in the event will be Emmanuel Guigon, director of the Museu Picasso de Barcelona; Claustre Rafart i Planas, conservator at the Museu Picasso until 2022 and author of the book, and Víctor Amela, journalist, who will act as moderator.