Our walk starts at the house where the famous artist Pablo Picasso was born. At the time, the building had the number 36. The first floor was rented by José Ruiz Blasco when he married Maria Picasso Lopez, and there, the couple’s first son, Pablo, was born on the night of 25 October 1881.
The house was built 20 years earlier by Diego Clavero on the site of Santa Maria de la Paz convent. Together with other houses on the northeast side of Plaza de la Merced it forms the architectural ensemble known as the Casas de Campos. It was completed in the 1870s and named after the developer, Antonio Campos Garin. This was the time when this square became a place of recreation for the bourgeoisie.
Today, this building houses the Picasso Birthplace Museum (Museo Casa Natal Picasso) dedicated to his life and work. Besides their collection of works by Picasso, the museum also has a collection of works by the philosopher, inventor, and kinetic sculptor Frank Rebaxes and a collection of sketches by Luis Molledo. There is also a large collection of works by other artists, including Joan Miró, Max Ernst, and Marc Chagall.
Photo: Lupulo2010
