Tribute to Picasso

Sculptor: Antoni Tàpies
Architects: Roser Amado and Lluis Domenech Girbau
Materials: Laminated glass, metal structure and objects
Inauguration: March 18, 1983

When Oriol Bohigas was Planning Officer (1980-1983) commissioned Antoni Tapies a monument that honors the memory of Pablo Picasso (Málaga, 1881 - Mougins, France, 1973), an artist trained in Barcelona, ​​where he lived intermittently years of turn of the century. Only he indicated the place where, the promenade named after the painter since December 1979, near the Parque de la Ciutadella be installed. The site chosen was marked by the near presence of umbráculo and bars of the park. Tàpies worked with the architects Lluís Domènech i Roser Amado, who then would the rehabilitation of Montaner and Simon editorial in the Tàpies Foundation. The artist decided to put an object and wrapped it in a glass cube side four meters. And crossed by a rickety sofa spears was the chosen object "to express plastically Picasso's work was always antidecorativa and conformist" by Lluís Permanyer wrote. A white sheet makes and side, with three sentences of the painter: "When I'm blue, I put red"; "What saves me is doing worse every day" and "No, painting is not made to decorate apartments, but a weapon of war, offensive and defensive, against the enemy." Spears crashing against the furniture also serve to support the roof and hide the tubes that carry water to the crystals, to give the feeling of connection with the pond where the monument is located. It is a work with conservation problems, so the water must meekly wet crystals does not always work. It was inaugurated on March 18, 1983. Since its opening, it has attracted praise and criticism for clearly departs from the traditional concept of monument.

In 2006, coinciding with the Year Picasso, it took out a full restoration, since moisture problems had seriously deteriorated. The original furniture had to do practically new, iron bars were replaced by stainless steel, a new ventilation system was created to prevent condensation and other water recirculation. Still remains a piece maintenance technical difficulties, especially with regard to the water circuit and aggression against the glass, despite being rolled five centimeters thick, regularly receive the consequences of pranks that get hurt them.