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To mark the 50th anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death, from 13 June to 17 September  2023, the Prado Museum is holding an exhibition that intersperses works by the Andalusian artist with paintings by El Greco, one of the artists that influenced him the most. 

The exhibition is curated by Carmen Giménez and glimpses the references that Picasso took from the work of the Greek artist with the aim of better understanding Picasso's early work, between his Blue Period and Cubism.

Pablo Ruiz Picasso (Malaga, 1881 - Mougins, France, 1973) was a painter and sculptor, considered to be one of the greatest artistic geniuses of the 20th century. He explored all kinds of disciplines such as drawing, engraving, book illustration, sculpture, ceramics and even theatre set and costume design. He also experimented with various creative styles during the three periods of his career: Blue, pink, and black and white, developing cubism, which he invented, after surrealism and finally abstraction.

In total, he created some 13,500 paintings, 100,000 prints or engravings, 34,000 illustrations for books and 300 sculptures or ceramic pieces. His compositions famously include Guernica, his most important masterpiece.

Domenikos Theotokopoulos, better known as El Greco, (Candia, Greece, 1541 - Toledo, 1614) was a Renaissance painter. He is one of the greatest figures in the history of pictorial art, although at the time he was considered an extravagant artist due to his personalist canvases and his tendencies towards experimentation and innovation. His pieces were mainly religious in nature and included The Disrobing of Christ, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, The Adoration of the Shepherds and The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest.

Image Credits:

El Greco. Pentecost (detail). Around 1600. Prado Museum