Picasso famously said: “We all know art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.” That saying, along with a lot of his paintings, is goobly gook thought masquerading as deep thoughts. The saying is so insipid if I didn’t know it was Pablo Picasso, I would have thought it was Jack Handy (IFKYK).
(Editor: I’ve never heard that saying before, so are you sure it’s famous? Writer: No, but it is I the Picasso museum in Malaga, so it must be famous. If it’s not famous, I’m doing my part to make it famous.)
Anyhow, we went early the next morning to the Picasso Museum, after I had wisely purchased tickets online. If there are major attractions you want to see in Spain (actually, in much of Europe) buy the tickets in advance.
The museum is well-done and interesting.
And don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Picasso’s work. I don’t love Picasso’s work either. I went through the museum, evaluating each piece on how I reacted to it. Some I found quite interesting, and some I found to be dreck.
Some of the pieces I instinctively liked right away, and others I instinctively didn’t care for. I’m not any kind of art expert, but like wine, I know what I like. And don’t like.
Picasso had always wanted a museum of his art in his hometown of Malaga, but it wasn’t until his daughter-in-law and grandson got the ball rolling after his death that it happened. They donated a significant collection of works by Picasso to the city of Málaga, fulfilling Picasso's wish to have his art displayed in his hometown.
(Editor: Hey, that last sentence reads suspiciously like it was written by AI. Writer: My friend Al Peterson did NOT write it. Despite the fact it is surprisingly concise, AI wrote it. This the first use of AI on this blog, and it will be a max of one use per trip. Any future AI use will always be disclosed. Any future use of writing by Al Peterson will be funny. And why does capital "I" and the letter "l" look exactly the same in the Arial font?)
Picasso was born in Malaga, and lived there until age 13. In 1895, his father took a job in Barcelona, so the family moved there. There’s also a Picasso museum in Barcelona, and his art can be found in many museum around the world, as well as in private collections.
Say this for Picasso, he was prolific. To answer my question posed in the title of this blog post, the answer is yes. (My answer is my opinion, of course, but it's also a test of whether Chris Nicholas is reading the blog. He loves when I answer two option questions with "yes!")
As to the quote above, about art being a lie but leading us to realize the truth, the rest of the plaque in the museum is the kind of presumptuous elitist crap I’m not a fan of. The rest of the sign reads, “This understanding enabled him to explore the artifice of all artistic practice by uniting the apparently opposing styles of cubism and classicism.”
Somebody got paid to write that. Aren’t you lucky this blog is free?
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