'Unseen' Picasso paintings exhibited in Barcelona's and Madrid's main museums

PAINTINGS by surrealist 20th-century artist Pablo Picasso never seen before in Spain have been loaned by a Swiss museum to galleries in Madrid and Barcelona.

The Reina Sofía and El Prado art museums in the capital, and the Picasso Museum in Barcelona will display paintings from this weekend onwards in special temporary exhibitions, many of which were created during Picasso's late-life exile period in France and which have never entered Spanish soil.

These include Woman in hat sitting on an armchair; The fan; Woman with guitar; The two brothers; Harlequin sitting (pictured); Man, woman and child; Venus and love, and The couple, all on display from this Wednesday at the El Prado as part of its exhibition, 10 Picassos from the Kunstmuseum Basel.

Others painted in France which have never been seen in Spain until now, also from the Kunstmuseum in Basel, will form part of the Coleccionismo y Modernidad display at the Reina Sofía, and in the Picasso/Dalí, Dalí/Picasso exhibition at the Málaga-born artist's bespoke museum in Barcelona.

The latter display is a joint effort between the Picasso Museum and the Florida-based Dalí Museum, which explores the close friendship between these two international artists in greater detail than ever before.

End dates for the Reina Sofía and Barcelona exhibitions have not been given, but the one in the El Prado will continue until September 14 this year.