There are many types of art, many techniques, styles and varieties, and it’s all still art, whether we connect with it and like that style, or find it boring, incomprehensible or downright ugly. The truth is that we can learn from all of them, just as in life we learn even more from the bad things that happen to us.

I never thought art would play such a big part in my life, and often, if not every time, when I go to an exhibition, I remember what I learnt and, above all, my teacher Gloria. I don’t think even she could have imagined that I’d end up living in the ‘city of art’, that’s what they call Málaga. Nor could I have suspected that I’d be surrounded by artists at every turn. Everything happens for a reason in this life, and I know this has one too.

When I first learnt about Picasso during my student years, I didn’t know everything about him, nor had I seen all his works, which I think is impossible, because he never stopped creating and there are countless works by him. I only knew about his Cubist technique and his Blue and Rose periods; that was all.

‘Still Life with a Green Head’, 1927, Jean Metzinger, oil on canvas.

‘The Face of Genius’, 1927, René Magritte, oil on canvas.

‘Harlequin’, 1926, Salvador Dalí, oil on canvas.

“The Angel of Mercy”, 1934, Eileen Agar, plaster, collage and watercolour.

“The Bunch of Grapes”, 1929, Fernand Léger, oil on canvas.

It was when I arrived in Málaga, Picasso’s city, that I really got to know him and appreciate his work. I have to be honest: it’s not that I’m particularly fond of Cubism, nor could I paint in that style, nor do I fully understand it, but that was just one phase of Picasso’s career, the one that’s best known. When I visited the artist’s birthplace, I realised that at the start of his career he painted things like the ones I’d done: realist works, still lifes of nature, pigeons, he loved pigeons, and I realised that I didn’t really know him at all.

‘Composition with Hand and Hats’, 1927, Fernand Léger, oil on canvas.

‘The Poet’s Nostalgia’, 1914, Giorgio de Chirico, oil and charcoal on canvas.

‘The Confusion of the Miracle-Worker’, 1926, Giorgio de Chirico, oil on canvas.

“Still Life with Minotaur and Trowel”, 1938, Pablo Picasso, oil on canvas.

“Head of a Woman, Left Profile”, 1933, Pablo Picasso, plaster.

“Woman in an Armchair”, 1929, Pablo Picasso, oil on canvas.

I then learnt more about him whilst watching a YouTube channel during the pandemic, a channel run by an art teacher from Seville, and I was surprised. And I always talk about the artist, not his personal life. That’s his private life. I just focus on his work and his love of art.

I’ve visited the Picasso Museum several times and will do so many more, as there are now new exhibitions. But the last one I went to was one of the best; it featured works that I really liked, spanning various periods of the artist’s career, and these are the ones I’ve saved to share with you today. I always keep the most special ones, the ones that made an impact on me or that I particularly liked, to share here.

In this huge Picasso exhibition, called ‘Memory and Desire’, there were so many works that it was impossible to appreciate them properly in a short space of time; I had to make two visits to the museum, queue up in the massive line that forms amongst the tourists, and then wait my turn in the large hall to take photos of each of those paintings. I’ve also included works by other artists who were featured in the exhibition and whose paintings I found marvellous.

‘Head of a Young Woman, Full Face and in Profile’, 1926, Pablo Picasso, pen, black chalk, white chalk partially mixed with water on Ingres-Butten paper (light grey)

‘Study with Plaster Head’, 1925, Pablo Picasso, oil on canvas.

“Academia”, 1895, Pablo Picasso, charcoal and clarion strokes on paper.

“Seneca”, undated, artist unknown, plaster.

Here there are not only works created using the Cubist technique, but also drawings, sculptures and much more. I have enjoyed each of the pieces I have selected for this post, whether in their entirety or for a particular detail.

But for me, the most important thing, and I’ve said this on other occasions, is not the work itself, or any particular painting, that draws my attention to Picasso, but rather his great creativity, imagination and adaptability to circumstances. Moreover, he was an artist who never stopped creating, as if he had thousands of works in his mind and had to bring them all to life, one after the other. A tireless labourer in the field of art, yet he was able to achieve all that he did because, I believe, and this is a personal view, his love of art overflowed his spirit.

‘Study of a Leg’, 1893–1894, Pablo Picasso, charcoal on paper.

‘Academy’, 1894, Pablo Picasso, charcoal and Conté pencil on paper.

‘Academy’, 1894, Pablo Picasso, charcoal and Conté pencil on paper.

Of course, there were others like him, but being in Picasso’s city, I’m learning a great deal about him. Seeing so many works by the same artista, he’s the artist whose work I’ve seen the most of, helps me get to know him better and better every day, and I hope not to miss a single exhibition held at that museum, because they really are masterful exhibitions.

Thank you very much for joining me today; I wish you all a very happy Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.

All photographs are my own.