Picasso in photo. Archives of the Museu Picasso de Barcelona

Picasso in photo. Archives of the Museu Picasso de Barcelona includes a selection from the photography collection of the Museu Picasso de Barcelona which, today, treasures a set of more than three thousand photographs that show the creative processes and life of Picasso.

The exhibition presents works belonging to the collections of the photographers Lucien Clergue and David Douglas Duncan, as well as documents from the Brigitte Baer archive, in addition to a selection from the Museum's photography collection during its creation phase in Barcelona, and family albums of Picasso's friends such as Jaume Sabartés or Gustau Gili.

The photograph is not only an archival record, it is also an archive in itself. In line with this idea, the Museu Picasso de Barcelona preserves, among its Collection, a corpus of photographic archives that bring us closer to the life and creative processes of Picasso.

The emotional ties between Picasso and Barcelona, essential to understanding the museum's formation process, began at the end of the 19th century with the artist's arrival in the city, and remained alive until his death in 1973. Barcelona became an important link in Picasso's life, not only in his formative stage, but also in his revelation as an artist. Picasso went definitively to Paris in April 1904, but his family and especially his friends from youth kept him united to the city.

The Museu Picasso de Barcelona is, without a doubt, the most obvious sign of this affective bond between the artist and the city. Created by the desire of Picasso, it is the result of the efforts and the will of a community; in the first place of his personal secretary and great friend, Jaume Sabartés, but also of the Barcelona society that so admired the figure of Picasso and Barcelona City Council, which in full Francoism acted with the necessary discretion to make the artist's dream come true: a monographic museum in the city he loved so much.

The photographs of the constellation of archives kept by the Museum evoke Picasso's relationship and generosity with the city of Barcelona and contribute to facilitating new perspectives on the artist.

Joan Ainaud de Lasarte described Picasso's relationship with Barcelona in the following terms: «It is not a museum in remembrance of an origin, but it is the result of a friendship and the connection of a man with his city; the friendship between Jaume Sabartés and Picasso, and Picasso's memory of Barcelona».