What to See at Museo Picasso Málaga: The 2025 Exhibition Lineup
The Museo Picasso Málaga has finalized its artistic programming for 2025, bringing a diverse array of temporary exhibitions to the historic Palacio de Buenavista. Throughout the year, visitors can look forward to fresh perspectives on Pablo Picasso’s creative process alongside presentations dedicated to Belgian contemporary painter Farah Atassi and Spanish Surrealist Óscar Domínguez.
Complementing these visual arts displays, the venue will host educational and cultural activities designed to open these works to the public, celebrating the Málaga-born artist in his native city.
Planning Your Visit: What to Expect in Málaga Throughout 2025
Whether you are visiting Málaga in the spring or planning a late-season cultural getaway, the museum's upcoming schedule offers deep dives into various artistic movements and eras.
Unveiling the Royan Sketchbooks (January 31 – April 30, 2025)
The year begins with a focused look at the drawings Picasso created during a tumultuous period. Between September 1939 and August 1940, following the outbreak of World War World II, the artist resided in the French coastal town of Royan alongside Dora Maar and his companion Jaime Sabartés. During this time, Picasso turned to ordinary notebooks and graph-paper sketchbooks purchased from a local bookstore to document his ideas.
Curated by Marilyn McCully and Michael Raeburn, this exhibition presents these sketchbooks alongside related paintings, gouaches, poems, and photographic archives. The presentation is organized in close collaboration with the Almine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso Foundation to offer a comprehensive look at this highly productive phase of his career.
Spatial Play with Farah Atassi (May 23 – December 14, 2025)
In the late spring, the museum introduces "Genius Loci," a solo exhibition of work by contemporary painter Farah Atassi. Born in Brussels in 1981, Atassi studied in Paris and has earned acclaim for her distinct approach to pictorial space, blending figurative traditions with bold geometric shapes.
Curated by Marjolaine Lévy, the exhibition collects works produced between 2015 and 2025. Atassi's paintings establish a structured dialogue with modern masters like Picasso, utilizing precise lines and architectural constructs that create a sense of stopped time and quiet mystery.
Surreal Metamorphosis by Óscar Domínguez (June 13 – October 13, 2025)
Running concurrently through the summer, a temporary gallery will host a retrospective of Óscar Domínguez. A major contributor to the international Surrealist movement, the Tenerife-born painter was known for his highly imaginative and metamorphosis-driven canvases.
Curated by Isidro Hernández Gutiérrez, this exhibition highlights Domínguez's career, including his relocation to Paris, his invention of the "decalcomania" technique, and his close wartime friendship with Picasso, who deeply influenced his work. The collection explores themes of creative freedom, black humor, and irrationality.
Artistic Evolution in "Memory and Desire" (November 14, 2025 – April 12, 2026)
The final major exhibition of the year centers on Picasso's output between 1925 and 1945. Under the curation of Eugenio Carmona, this presentation examines how the artist transformed his visual vocabulary during a time of great psychological and cultural change.
The exhibition uses Picasso's 1925 painting Studio with Plaster Head as a starting point, tracing how classical plaster motifs served as symbols of memory and shifting personal desire. Visitors will also see how this iconography resonated with contemporary artists of the era, including Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí, Dora Maar, and René Magritte.
Interdisciplinary Art at the Palacio de Buenavista
In addition to the traditional galleries, 2025 introduces the "Places" project, an initiative that invites international creators to interact directly with the spaces of the historic palace. The project begins with a contribution from the Trisha Brown Company, bringing contemporary dance and movement into dialogue with the museum's architectural heritage.
If you are planning your next cultural itinerary, you can easily check what's on in Málaga during your travel dates. To discover more about the city’s landmark institutions, find your way using the interactive map or browse the comprehensive list of local museums in Málaga. Keeping track of these seasonal changes on Musemap (musemap.art) makes it simple to experience the best of local culture on your next visit.
