Picasso's Passion for El Greco

Thanks to an exchange of works, the Museu Picasso was able to display El Greco's Old Knight. This masterpiece of portraiture that belongs to the Prado's permanent collection is exhibited alongside another thirty works inspired by El Greco in the Museu Picasso's collection.

Picasso had the opportunity to study the oeuvre of El Greco on the visits he made to the Prado Museum during his sojourn in Madrid, between 1897 and 1898. Upon his return to Barcelona, in the milieu of Els Quatre Gats he came into contact with Rusiñol, Utrillo and Zuloaga, all three admirers, collectors and champions of El Greco. During this period Picasso made several drawings and paintings in which the influence of El Greco proved crucial. His admiration for the Renaissance painter would persist throughout his life and was especially present in his Blue Period, at the onset of Cubism and in the sixties.