Born in the late 19th century, Pablo Ruiz-Picasso built a life that crossed cities, styles, and generations. A recent anniversary event organized by the Museu Picasso in Barcelona celebrated a pivotal moment in his family’s artistic legacy, marking how a portrait and a simple study have traveled across museums and private hands to become a shared national treasure. The centerpiece of that moment is a painting known as Palomar, created by Picasso’s father, Jose Ruiz Blasco, during the early years in A Coruña. The work has been part of a long journey, weaving through private hands and public collections, and it now belongs to a permanent display that connects generations of artists and patrons. The room’s hero is that early study, the loft piece that left A Coruña eight months ago and has appeared in the last several years in important venues.
Today Barcelona treats Palomar as a precious loan that deepens the story of a family that shaped modern art. The family owns Palomar, a work painted in A Coruña during the 1890s by Pablo Picasso’s father, and they placed it with the city council as a deposit in recent years. Visitors to the Picasso House Museum can view this companion piece as though it were a living link to the city, with pigeons resting nearby in a small, almost timeless scene. The painting is a jewel that feels eternal, anchored in A Coruña yet now present in Barcelona as part of a broader narrative about Picasso and his father, who encouraged the boy to draw the legs of pigeons as a first exercise in drawing. Whether Palomar bears the unmistakable touch of a Malaga-born genius remains a matter of legend and belief for those who choose to see it that way.
How did the work come to Barcelona? Early this year, the painting’s owners reached an agreement with a foundation connected to the Barcelona museum, which houses a large collection of Picasso works and possesses a notable number of pieces connected to the city of A Coruña. Palomar, a masterful oil on canvas, is viewed as a missing piece for the Catalan institution, and its arrival has been celebrated as a rightful addition to a storied body of work that spans several major European collections. The loan strengthens the museum’s program and the shared memory of the artist’s life.
Palomar is described as a piece entrusted by Fundacio Noguera, a philanthropic foundation that supports the museum’s preparatory activities for a major anniversary of the artist’s life. Although many events were planned for the year, Palomar’s journey continued to unfold, signaling a moment of generosity that links the past with a public welcome in the present.
A Coruña will participate in the tribute with an exhibition titled Picasso, White on Blue Memory at the Fine Arts Museum. The event will feature work by Picasso from Malaga, Paris, and Barcelona, including artifacts from the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid where Guernica is on permanent display, and from the Picasso Museum in Antibes where the artist devoted himself to painting in a historic setting. The Museu Picasso in Barcelona will organize a joint exhibition with Fundació Miró that explores the friendship and mutual respect between the two artists.
As the tribute unfolds, both France and Spain have prepared a broad program of events for the coming year, inviting visitors to see memories from the artist’s life in new lights. In Barcelona, the perspective shifts to the father’s influence, a testament to a story that crosses borders. Although Palomar was created in A Coruña, the elder Ruiz Blasco had a strong connection to the Catalan city, where he served as a professor of Fine Arts and lived until his death. The narrative reveals a man who helped shape a son who would redefine painting, and a city that remained a steady part of that journey.
The reaction to Palomar’s departure from A Coruña was deeply felt. Barcelona’s gain is described by many as a loss for the city of origin, a wound that remains open for some and a source of reflection for others. Beatriz Doldán, director of the Picasso Museum in A Coruña, expressed the sentiment with clarity, noting that while there were few options, the owner family’s decision to move the piece could not be ignored. The local council was aware of the owner family’s intention to explore opportunities, but no proposal to retain the artwork was put forward, leaving the city to acknowledge the change. The move is a reminder of how art travels, and how museums guide that journey with care and intention.