Fundación Picasso | Museo Casa Natal de Málaga

Works listed in Malaga (1888-1895)

View of the port of Malaga (c. 1888-1890). Oil on panel, 15 x 24 cm. Maya Ruiz-Picasso Collection.

As a small child Picasso made this copy of a painting done by his father, which hung in the living room of his house. According to the version told to his daughter, Maya, he secretly took paint from his father’s palette and worked under his sister’s bed, reproducing it from memory by the light of a candle. This work was, in turn, a copy of the View of Malaga at dusk (1878, from the Malaga Town Hall Collection) by the seascape artist Emilio Ocon y Rivas. The image, a classic one amongst the Malaga painters of that period, shows the ships anchored, the Customs House building and the Cathedral Tower. Picasso was to recall this oil painting in a conversation with Palau I Fabre as “the oldest of all of them, the first one I did.”

 

The Yellow Picador (c. 1889-1890). Oil on panel, 24 x 19 cm. From the Collection of the artist’s heirs (Z.VI, 3)

Alongside View of the port of Malaga, this is the only oil painting conserved from the period of the artist’s childhood in Malaga. Painted on the lid of a cigar box, Picasso’s sister, Lola made holes with a nail in the eyes of the Picador and those of two other figures. This work is the first evidence of Picasso’s taste for the subject of the art of bullfighting, which was to figure so frequently and importantly in the artist’s future works.

 

 

Dove and Dog (c. 1890). Paper cuttings. 5 x 8.5 cm. and 6 x 9.2 cm. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.239 and 110.239R).

These two small pieces show the skill of a child who was capable of cutting out any shape that he fancied for his own amusement and that of his cousins and sisters, using paper and scissors. Analysts of his work see in these examples a precedent of the collages and paper sculptures pertaining to his Cubist Period as well as of the later models and sculptures in metal plate. In any case, there is no doubt that many years later he recalled this technique when he created similar figures for his children to play with.

 

 

Doves (1890). Lead pencil on paper, 22 x 10.5 cm. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.867) Signed Pablo Ruiz and dated 1890 on the lower right hand side.

Here Picasso repeats a familiar theme in his father’s work, although he appears not to have copied one of his works but rather to have drawn from nature or from memory after observing birds in flight.

 

Dove’s head (1890). Lead pencil on paper. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.867R)

Drawn on the back of the previous picture, probably a first attempt or unfinished sketch of that picture.

 

Dog and Cat Fight; ants; man and child (c. 1890). Pencil on paper. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.842)

Small sketches drawn for fun on a school transparency for geometrical designs.

 

Hercules (November 1890). Lead pencil on paper, 49.6 x 32 cm. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.842)
Signed and dated below on the right:  P. Ruiz Picasso / Noviembre 1890.

Picasso referred to this work as one of his first, quoting it as an example of never having done “childhood pictures”, but having always aimed to achieve perfection from the beginning. He remarked that he had taken as his model a figure of Hercules that was in the corridor in his house. This picture stands as the first record of another of the themes that were to figure in Picasso’s future production: classical mythology.

 

 

Malagueña (Woman from Malaga) (c. 1891). Lead pencil on paper. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.929).
Several variations of Picasso’s signature below on the right.

Drawn on a page of a schoolbook that Picasso had bought in Malaga but which he used in la Corunna, the Museu Picasso has not commented on where it was executed. It was Palau I Fabre who, observing the Andalusian appearance of the figure and the vividness and precision of the work, deduced that it could have been a drawing from life in Malaga, and consequently gave it the title it bears.

 

 

Study for "The Old Fisherman" (summer 1895). Oil on Canvas, 34.4 x 29 cm. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.072)

This is one of a number of pencil studies included in a sketchbook.

 

 

The Old Fisherman (summer 1895). Oil on Canvas, 83 x 62.5 cm. Montserrat Abbey, Barcelona (Z.I, 1)

A portrait of Manuel Salmeron Castellano, a sailor from Motril who was hired by Salvador Ruiz Blasco as a model for his nephew Pablo.

 

 

Columbus at the La Rabida Monastery(1895). Oil on Canvas, 52.3 x 44.2 cm. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.937)

Picasso copied or took as model the painting by José Ponce Fuente Columbus. Religion understands genius (Malaga, 1887), which belonged to the Municipal Museum. Both works (Picasso’s temporarily on loan from the Museu de Barcelona) are currently on exhibition at the Municipal Heritage Museum.

Self-portrait with José Roman (1895). Oil on canvas, 60 x 46 cm. From the Marina Picasso Collection (Inv. 12020, Z.XXI, 45)

Zervos had listed this work as executed in La Corunna but Palau I Fabre corrected the listing thanks to Picasso himself who attributed it to Malaga and identified the other figure as an unspecified relative. John Richardson, however, puts forward the theory, which we subscribe to, that the figure is José Roman, a photographer friend of the Blasco family. Author of several snapshots of country feasts held in the Llanes estate, he appears in one of these feasts with Picasso’s nieces, the likeness being obvious. It is likely that his portrait is the one figuring in a sketch contained in a drawing book dating from the same period (MPB 111.178). Richardson also believes that it served as a model for a nude study conserved in the Museu Picasso of Barcelona (MPB 110.881), but we take the Museum’s view to be more accurate, attributing it to Barcelona in 1896.

Still Nature with fruit (1895). Oil on canvas, approx. 110 x 80 cm. Unknown location (Z. VI, 17).
Signed below on the left hand side P. Ruiz Picasso.

Zervos reproduced this painting in 1954, in the VI Volume of his catalogue. Agustin Clavijo (“Picasso y lo picassiano en las colecciones particulares malagueñas” 1981 [Picasso and References to Picasso in Malaga Private Collections 1981] claims that, until it was sold in Madrid in 1965, the painting had belonged to some private owners from Malaga, connected to Picasso by family ties; according to his version of events, they had received the work at the end of the century as wedding gift from the artist’s parents. Baltasar Peña Hinojosa also reproduced it in his book “Los Pintores Malagueños en el siglo XIX” (Malaga Painters in the 19th Century), Publisher in 1964 when he was still residing in Malaga. Palau I Fabre remarks that, around the year 1965 he attended a process of authentication of the painting for the purpose of its sale and purchase, in which Picasso himself certified it as genuine. Richardson links this oil painting to a playful comment made by Picasso to Alberti (and which is quoted by Roberto Otero), which we believe was regarding the book by Baltasar Peña.

Steam boiler in a corner of the port (1895). Oil on canvas, 27.6 x 35 cm. From a unknown collection. Signed, dated and with a dedication below on the left hand side which reads: To my dear grandmother/from her P. Ruiz Picasso/95

Palau brought to light this work in his book “Picasso vivo” (Picasso alive) (1980, nº 94). Auctioned in Christie’s of London on 5th February 2002 we find in the catalogue of that auction that the last known owner was Alberto Puig, who in 1953 managed to get Picasso to personally certify the authenticity of the work. In January 1968, in a certificate drawn up for Kahnweiler, the artist confirmed his authorship of the work, adding that the seated figure was possibly his father.

Harbour with houses in the foreground (1895?). Oil on canvas, 23.5 x 29.4 cm. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.086)

The Museu Picasso maintains that this painting was done 1896 (this view is the one still published in the 1994 exhibition “Picasso: landscapes 1890-1912”), but both Palau (in “ Picasso alive”, 1980, nº 93) and Rafael Inglada (“Dictionary Malaga-Picasso, Picasso-Malaga”, 2005) believe that it should be listed as dating from 1895.

Lily (1895?). Charcoal on canvas, 23.5 x 29.4 cm. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.086 R)

Drawing sketched on the reverse side of the oil painting Harbour with houses in the foreground.

Picador knocked to the ground (1895). Pencil on paper. From the collection belonging to Rafael Arocena de Ussia, Mexico. Signed and dated above on the right hand side: P. Ruiz/95.

Palau attributes this drawing to Malaga ("Picasso alive", nº 102), although he has doubts regarding La Corunna.

Allegorical Exaltation of the flag (1895, 1896?). Pencil, ink and aquarelle on paper, 25,2 x 15,5 cm. Museu Picasso, Barcelona (MPB 110.391)

The Museu Picasso lists this drawing in its catalogue as having been done in La Corunna or Barcelona. However, Rafael Inglada (in the catalogue notes for the exhibition “The Picasso of Malaga: formative years”, held at the Picasso Foundation between October 2007 and February 2008) believes that this work should be listed as having been done in the city of his birth, allowing for the possibility of it having been realised in summer 1896. This belief is based on various facts: the name of Malaga appears on the Spanish flag, to the right of the city’s coat-of-arms with the colours of its pennant and, to the left, there seems to be the sketched outline of the cathedral tower. The work could indeed be a study for a poster on a bellicose-political theme, related to the imminent war of Cuba.

Drawing book (Malaga and Barcelona, 1895). Pencil. 12 x 8 cm. Museu Picasso, Barcelona.

The Museu Picasso of Barcelona cast some doubt on whether most of the drawings were done in Malaga or Barcelona. Some (which we shall indicate) have been listed as executed in Malaga with a greater degree of certainty. The drawing book is listed as number 3 in the catalogue Je suis le cahier (1986, The Pace Gallery).

Croquis diversos (MPB 112.483)

Mujer sentada en el suelo (MPB 111.164)

Estudio para "Viejo pescador". Málaga (MPB 111.165)

Busto de dama (MPB 111.165 R)

Croquis diversos (MPB 111.166)

Dos estudios de pierna. Málaga (MPB 111.166 R)

Viejo pescador sentado. Málaga (MPB 111.167) Dated 14-Agosto-95

Croquis diversos (MPB 111.167 R)

Estudio para "Viejo pescador". Málaga (MPB 111.168). Dated 14-8-95

Apunte de escena de interior (reunión de damas y caballeros sentados charlando) (MPB 111.168 R)

Apuntes (MPB 111.169)

Busto de personaje femenino, copia de un vaciado de yeso (MPB 111.169 R)

Estudio para "Viejo pescador". Málaga (MPB 111.170) Signed P. Ruiz and dated 6-95.

Estudio para "Viejo pescador". Málaga (MPB 111.171). Firmado P. Ruiz and dated 6-95.

Desnudo (MPB 111.171 R)

Busto de niño con sombrero de ala ancha (MPB 111.172)

Busto de hombre (¿Retrato del tío Salvador?) (MPB 111.173). Signed P. Ruiz and dated 95 on the lower right hand side.

Caballo con arneses y morral (MPB 111.173 R)

Retrato de la tía Pepa sentada en un sillón. Málaga (MPB 111.174) Signed P. Ruiz and dated 95 on the lower right hand side.

Estudio de la Venus de Milo (MPB 111.174 R)

Cabeza de niño, de perfil (MPB 111.175)

Fragmento de cabeza femenina (MPB 111.175 R)

Dama con sombrero, de perfil (MPB 111.176)

Busto de muchacha (MPB 111.177)

Croquis diversos (MPB 111.177 R)

Busto de personaje masculino (MPB 111.178)

Dos campesinas (MPB 111.178 R)

Retrato de la madre del artista (MPB 111.179)

Cabeza femenina con moño (MPB 111.179 R)

Retrato de Lola, hermana del artista (MPB 111.180)

Personaje masculino (MPB 111.180 R)

Estudio de brazo y mano (MPB 111.181)

Retrato del padre del artista (MPB 111.181 R)

Estudio de brazo y mano (MPB 111.182)

Dos personajes masculinos (MPB 111.182 R)

Estudio de brazo y mano (MPB 111.183)

Vaporcillo anclado en el mar (MPB 111.183 R)

Busto de personaje masculino, sonriendo (MPB 111.184)

Cabeza de caballo (MPB 111.184 R)

Joven dibujando (MPB 111.185)

Caballo de tiro (MPB 111.185 R)

Desnudo femenino de espaldas (MPB 111.186)

Retrato de la madre del artista (MPB 111.186 R)

Estudios (MPB 111.187)

Retrato del padre del artista (MPB 111.187 R)

El padre del artista (MPB 111.245)

Cabeza femenina, de perfil (MPB 111.245 R)

Personaje masculino de espaldas, dibujando (MPB 111.188)

Retrato del padre del artista, leyendo (MPB 111.188 R)

Cabeza de hombre, copia de un vaciado en yeso (MPB 111.189)

Cabeza de caballo y niña de tres cuartos (MPB 111.189 R)

Cabeza de una dama (MPB 111.190)

Soldado de perfil (MPB 111.190 R)

Personaje masculino, de perfil, sentado y dibujando (MPB 111.191)

Dos soldados (MPB 111.191 R)

Caballo de tiro y acólito con una cruz (MPB 111.192 R)

Estudio de figura (MPB 110.600)

Tronco y extremidades de caballo y hombre, copia de un vaciado en yeso (MPB 111.193)

Croquis de un desnudo masculino (MPB 111.193 R)

Croquis de dos cabezas (MPB 111.194)

Soldado del siglo XVI (MPB 111.194 R)

Centauro y hombre frente a frente (MPB 111.195)

Croquis diversos de personajes masculinos (MPB 111.195 R) 
 

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