Picasso’s Footsteps: Private Tour & Museum

The Porxos d’en Xifré is a historic building of Barcelona which was inaugurated in 1840 after four years of works. It occupies the block formed by the Passeig d’Isabel II, the Pla de Palau and the streets of Reina Cristina and Llauder, plots of land that were urbanized in 1834 as a result of the demolition of the sea wall. The building was the first to appear in daguerreotype done in Spain and is decorated with Masonic symbols. But did you know that it was the first place where Picasso lived when his family moved to Barcelona?

The exact point where Picasso’s family lived was the current number 4 of the Passeig d’Isabel II, where before a boarding house had been.

The Fine Arts School (Escola de Llotja) took up the top floor of the building
In 1895, Picasso entered the School of Fine arts (Escola de Llotja) in the neo-classical building reached from Carrer del Consolat del Mar. The Trade Commission created the Fine Arts School on the top floor, where many artists studied, both those from Catalonia and those who were temporarily living in Barcelona.

The Picasso museum is a key reference for understanding the formative years of Pablo Picasso. The genius of the young artist is revealed through the 4,251 works that make up the permanent collection. Furthermore, the Picasso museum, opened in 1963, also reveals his deep relationship with Barcelona: an intimate, solid relationship that was shaped in his adolescence and youth and continued until his death.

The Sala Parés in Carrer Petritxol, which at that time dealt in modernist art, put on an exhibition of a series of pastel drawings by Picasso jointly with Ramon Casas in 1901.

Els Quatre Gats, at 3, Carrer Montsió, was the tavern founded by Pere Romeu, Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol, Miquel Utrillo and others in 1897, in imitation of Rodolphe Salis’s Parisian cabaret, Le Chat Noir, for the purpose of holding gatherings for artists, as a concert and exhibition hall, and for puppet shows and shadow plays. The premises were on the ground floor of a fine building designed by Puig i Cadafalch and it advertised itself as a «gothic beer hall for those who love the North and an Andalusian courtyard for those who love the South». The bar itself was in the smaller room, with two large pictures by Casas in a prominent position and advertising posters, one of which was for the menu and was painted by Picasso. The exhibitions and concerts were held in the larger room.