Spanish art has many famous exponents, among whom Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973) holds a prominent place in the pantheon of 20th-century art. Proliferate, daring and versatile, the great Master experimented with the avant-garde; from Cubism and Surrealism to Expressionism, his late oeuvre anticipated the advances of postmodernism. France was the terrain where his work developed and matured, but Barcelona is the place where he started his fabled career. Here, he joined the local School of Fine Arts, made his first artistic friendships and held his very first exhibition in Els Quatre Gats. Barcelona held a dear place in the heart of Malaga-born Picasso. A city he associated with his childhood and early memories as an artist, a place where he had family and lots of connections, Barcelona would be a point of reference for him, a place he would come back to time and again. He was so fond of the Catalan capital that it was the artist himself who encouraged the creation of a local museum about his work in the city.