Picasso's Portrait Exhibition at Museu Picasso Barcelona

The Museu Picasso in Barcelona, the only museum personally endorsed by Pablo Picasso, is hosting the exhibition "Picasso. Retrats" (Portraits) until June 25, 2017. The show, curated by Elizabeth Cowling in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery in London, features over 400 works from the museum's permanent collection of 4,500 pieces, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, drawings, and prints. The exhibition traces Picasso's evolution as a portraitist, from an 1896 portrait of his aunt Pepa to a 1962 sculpture of his last wife, Jacqueline Roque. Highlights include psychological portraits of his father, José Ruiz Blasco, and friends like Jaume Sabartés, as well as caricatures of figures like Bibi-la-Purée. A dedicated section explores Picasso's fascination with photography, featuring his own self-portrait. The show also examines his relationships with women—wives and lovers such as Olga Khokhlova, Marie-Thérèse Walter, Dora Maar, and Jacqueline Roque—and how they influenced his stylistic shifts. A room is devoted to his series inspired by Velázquez's "Las Meninas." The museum, founded in 1963 by Sabartés, holds the world's most comprehensive collection of Picasso's early works, donated by the artist in 1970.