In front of Picasso’s birth house there is a statue of him by Francisco López Hernández. The artist is sitting on a marble bench with a notebook and a pencil.
The bronze Picasso has an eventful life, for a statue. It occupies only part of a bench allowing visitors to sit next to it, so it participates in various photo sessions on a daily basis.
The statue also participates in various performances and events, such as the White Night cultural festival (La Noche en Blanco) which is held in Malaga every year. For the festival, the statue is decorated in a way or another, depending on the main theme of the year. And Pablo even managed to leave his bench once! In April 2013, a group of hooligans removed the statue from the bench in an attempt to take it away. Due to the weight of the statue they could not take it very far, so it was found on a nearby bench.
Bonus fact: the bronze Picasso is taller than the real one was. Why Francisco López Hernández decided to do so, remains unknown.
Photo: Holger Uwe Schmitt
