Picasso Museum
Located in Buitrago de Lozoya, the Picasso Museum houses a unique collection based on the friendship between two Spanish exiles: the artist Pablo Ruiz Picasso and his hairdresser Eugenio Arias. The collection was donated by Eugenio Arias to the Provincial Council of Madrid in 1982.
This peculiar collection, made up of 75 pieces, comes from the works that Picasso gave to his friend and confidant as a token of his affection. Picasso's barber wanted the collection to remain in his homeland, Buitrago del Lozoya, giving up his collection to create a space dedicated to Picasso. This collection, of a very varied nature, brings together drawings, graphic works, ceramics, posters, dedicated books and other unique items such as a pyrographed box of hairdressing tools. A perfect plan if you decide to visit one of the most beautiful towns in the Community of Madrid and visit the only museum dedicated to art and friendship.
The collection
The Eugenio Arias collection brings together the objects that Picasso gave to his friend between 1948 and 1972, together with others acquired later by the Community of Madrid. It is an extensive collection of drawings on bullfighting and the Mediterranean.
The exhibition is completed with photographs that show the most human side of the genius from Malaga.
Photo: Picasso Museum
A museum dedicated to art and friendship
The brilliant artist Pablo Picasso and the humble barber Eugenio Arias met in French exile and struck up a friendship that lasted more than 25 years. During that time, Arias shaved him and cut his hair without ever exchanging money. Although he did not charge him for his services, Picasso would occasionally give his friend and barber a drawing, lithograph or ceramic piece.
In this way he amassed a collection that he never wanted to sell, despite the fact that he was not short of offers, and which became part of the collection of the Museum that opened in his hometown in 1985. In 2008 Eugenio Arias died at the age of 98 in Vallauris, in the south of France, and in 2009 he was posthumously awarded the Silver Medal of the Community of Madrid.
