Maya Ruiz-Picasso is Pablo Picasso’s second child among his four offspring. He safeguarded a private collection containing nine pieces that illuminate lesser-known phases of Picasso’s work in Malaga, offering insight into personal moments behind the artist’s most intimate periods.
Integrated into a celebrated collection at a major museum in Paris, the foundation established by the artist’s legacy follows a principle that allows nine works to be entered through an endowment. In this model, the heir covers the payment of the donation tax, enabling a seamless transfer into public esteem and access.
In 1973, France enacted a law drafted by then Minister of Culture André Malraux to manage Picasso’s substantial succession. The measure facilitated the transfer of a vast array of works: 228 paintings, 158 sculptures, 1,495 drawings, 33 notebooks, 1,704 prints, 85 ceramics, and 77 foreign works. This move helped address the scarcity of Picasso’s works in French collections and allowed the family to address fiscal considerations tied to the legacy, reducing potential conflicts among the four branches of the artist’s lineage.
This selection of eight works from Picasso originates in part from Maya’s personal collection, including an oceanic sculpture from the Malaga-born artist. Donated largely by Maya, the pieces are featured in a dual exhibition running from this weekend through December 31, highlighting Picasso’s more intimate facets.
One curator, Diana Widmaier-Picasso, the artist’s granddaughter, notes that her mother believed some inherited artifacts would eventually find a home in the museum. The chosen works reflect a deep personal connection, including portraits of Picasso’s grandfather and father, and notebook drawings that reveal a longstanding dialogue between generations.
The selection also acknowledges the museum’s current gaps. As the family’s first major donation in three decades, it seeks to compensate for the undervalued works from Picasso’s late period in critics’ eyes, while enriching the public collection with items bearing strong emotional resonance.
From realism to expressionism
The exhibition opens with a realistic portrait of Jose Ruiz, Blasco, the artist’s father who painted from the age of fourteen and where Picasso’s early mastery is on clear display.
Each of the nine works is presented in a dedicated room, surrounded by related artifacts, forming a cohesive view of Picasso’s evolving practice alongside the permanent collection of the museum.
The donation includes a cherished portrait by Maya Ruiz-Picasso of her grandmother, a cubist rendering of young Maya with a lollipop, and a piece titled El bobo, all rooted in Picasso’s Spanish origins in the 1930s.
Visitors can also glimpse Maya Ruiz-Picasso’s childhood notebook, which shows how her father introduced her to painting. The pages reveal impressions and techniques that suggest a teacher-student rapport between generations, making the exhibit feel personal and revelatory.
Among the items was La venus del gas, a small sculpture crafted with paleolithic-inspired motifs, created in 1945, alongside a 1962 sketchbook, a portrait from 1971, and Study for the Mandolin Player from 1932. The collection also includes notes about Picasso’s life during the mid-20th century, including his existential reflections during and after wartime periods.
Born in 1935 to Picasso’s union with Marie-Thérèse Walter, Maya spent a portion of her childhood with her father while Picasso navigated a challenging period in his life that intersected with World War II. This era significantly shaped his later work and personal life as he faced profound upheavals and a sense of displacement during the war years.
Picasso’s second daughter, Maya, arrived later than her brother Paulo and other siblings Claude and Paloma, who were among the artist’s often-portrayed offspring. Widmaier-Picasso emphasizes that the twelve portraits drawn between 1938 and 1939 exhibit a striking combination of soulful precision and classical line, traits that continue to impress scholars, even in works connected to a sister who did not survive infancy.
Widmaier-Picasso recalls how the artist’s early years and the family’s experiences during periods of hardship influenced his approach to art and memory. Though older relatives and close friends are referenced, the focus remains on the enduring legacy reflected in the donation and its impact on the museum’s ability to present Picasso’s evolving visual language to contemporary audiences.
Regrettably, some of the exhibition’s potential voices could not attend due to health concerns, yet the weekend gatherings and south-of-France visits still shaped the artist’s practice and personal life during those years, bringing a lived perspective to the display and its historical context.
The museum and the French government collaborated closely in realizing this donation. The monetary value of the works remains undisclosed by the family, who prefer to keep figures private. Picasso’s estate is said to have included tens of thousands of items across paintings, documents, archives, photographs, sculptures, and notebooks, and the list of donated items continues to grow as the collection evolves and public access expands.