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Picasso was born in Málaga, not Barcelona

In this week's radio show, Rick and Gene say that Picasso was born in Barcelona. That's a mistake.
He was born and spent his childhood in Málaga.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/radio

https://www.museepicassoparis.fr/en/picassos-childhood#:~:text=Pablo%20Ruiz%20Picasso%20was%20born,drawing%20and%20painting%20was%20born.

I wouldn't be pedantic about this but there happens to be a great quote from Picasso about Cubism that depends on this.

Asked how viewers should understand Cubism, Picasso replied that "it's helpful to be from Málaga."

I didn't find a citation for that quote in a quick search but there is a listing of his pithy quotes about Cubism more generally:

https://www.azquotes.com/author/11640-Pablo_Picasso/tag/cubism

Note also that if you stay in the historic center of the city and not in the condo developments near the train station, you'll get an impression much closer to the Cubist outlook than the bad fun-in-the-sun tourist impression that Rick got years back.

Any quick photo I would snap from the window on an upper floor of the cityscape looked like a Cubist canvas!

Posted by
2935 posts

I should add that Picasso lived with his family in Barcelona from age 13 to age 16, then went to Madrid for art school.

Posted by
15806 posts

I thought the Picasso Museum in Malaga was much better (and a lot less crowded) than the one in Barcelona.

Posted by
8401 posts

We have been to Malaga, and will return in a couple months.

While he did credit Malaga for his art, and at least verbally expressed a wish for a museum in Malaga, he also vowed, as a young man, never to return, and after 1901, never did. So his relationship with the city was a bit tortured.