Picasso lived key years in Barcelona – those of his apprenticeship as an artist. He established and maintained strong links to the city throughout his life and it was here where he wanted his museum to be.
That was why in 1960, on Picasso’s own express wish, his friend and personal secretary Jaume Sabartés proposed the creation of a museum dedicated to the artist’s work to the City Council of Barcelona. By 1963, the museum was a reality and opened its doors in the gothic Palau Aguilar located at number 15 Carrer de Montcada.
The museum collection at the time comprised Sabartés's personal collection and the Picasso works from the Barcelona Museums of Art (basically, Harlequin, donated by the artist in 1919, the Plandiura Collection, acquired in 1932, the legacy of drawings made by collector Lluís Garriga i Roig, the series of engravings for Ovid’s Metamorphoses and several lithographs and posters).