Pablo Picasso: A Malagueño with a truly global reach
One of the most famous twentieth-century artists, Pablo Picasso was a founder of Cubism and has inspired the likes of Francis Bacon and David Hockney
Jennie Rhodes
Friday, 27 February 2026, 14:02
Without a doubt the most famous Andalusian to leave his homeland and make a mark on an international scale was Pablo Picasso.
Born in 1881 in a house in Malaga's Plaza de la Merced, which is now open to the public as Museo Casa Natal de Picasso, Pablo left the city with his family as a young child when his father, an art teacher, was offered a job in A Coruña. From there the family moved to Barcelona and Picasso would eventually settle in Paris, attracted by its bohemian lifestyle, like so many other artists, writers and philosophers between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, there are museums dedicated to his work, not only in his native Malaga, but the Musée Picasso in Paris and the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.
Paris is where he met French artist Dora Maar who would become his lover and muse. The couple first met at Les Deux Magots café, the iconic hangout of the avant-garde artists and philosophers of 1920s and '30s Paris.
Picasso became known as one of the most influential painters of the Êcole de Paris (school of Paris), considered to be the birthplace of different artistic styles, such as impressionism and cubism, shaping artistic thought and expression at the time. In fact Picasso is known for being one of the founding fathers of cubism, along with his contemporary, Georges Braque.
His work covers a plethora of artistic genres and part of his status as an artistic genius stems from the fact that his art transcends different artistic styles, movements and eras.
Picasso has inspired famous British artists too, including Francis Bacon, Henry Moore and David Hockney. This was documented in 2012 by an exhibition at Tate Britain in London, Picasso and Modern British Art, which explored the artist's legacy and influence on British art.
His work played a decisive role in the acceptance of modern art in Britain, particularly after a hugely successful exhibition in the UK capital in 1960, signaling the start of the Swinging '60s.
Of course, Picasso's work has been shown all over the world, from European galleries to the USA and beyond and his iconic figures, use of colour and familiar blue and white striped shirts have featured in everything from fashion to photography and souvenir shops to stamps.
