Barcelona's Museu Picasso opened to the public in the Palau Aguilar on Carrer de Montcada. The museum grew from Jaume Sabartes's wish to donate his Picasso collection and from Barcelona civic efforts to reconnect with an artist whose formative years were tied to the city. Because Picasso opposed Franco's regime, the museum initially used the discreet name Sabartes Collection, yet mayor Josep Maria de Porcioles pressed the project forward. Its founding collection centered on Sabartes's 574 works, with additional Picasso works connected to Barcelona's municipal collections and friends of the artist. The institution was the first museum devoted to Picasso and the only one created during his lifetime.
It anchored Picasso's early career in Barcelona and became a model for single-artist museums built around local biography.
