- Palau Foundation
- Library
- Documents Room
Documents Room
The new Documents Room was opened on 25 October 2004 and adds a new dimension to the Foundation's original purpose. This new dimension comes out of the Foundation’s more literary and documentary aspect. Prior to its inauguration, the Foundation had been more focused on holding plastic-arts exhibitions.
The contents of the Documents Room are even more varied. A rich selection of documents is on offer which, to give a broad outline, includes manuscripts from famous individuals, books bearing dedications, first editions, cards, photographs, drawings, etc.
The contents of the Documents Room can be split into two sections: one concentrates on documents relating to figures from Catalan literature such as Foix, Carner, Ventura Gassol, Verdaguer and Eugeni d’Ors, whilst the other covers internationally famous artists such as Picasso, Artaud and Lorca.
Perhaps the most important document in the collection is a letter sent by Picasso from Madrid in which the artist writes about El Greco and Velázquez. The letter was sent to an old Llotja friend, Joaquin Bas, and is signed by Picasso. Sent in 1897, it contains the 16-year-old Picasso's personal opinions about great masters as well as more everyday matters such as the beauty of the girls in Madrid!
Conscious of the letter’s importance in the Picassian world, Josep Palau i Fabre went to great lengths to acquire the letter.
Next to this letter is a sketch done by Picasso himself for Palau i Fabre to illustrate the interior of the artist's Paris studio, the famous Bateau Lavoir, along with a unique lithographic reproduction of an advertising illustration for a medicine called “Lecitina Agell”. Advertising was a rare medium for Picasso but one that he turned to out of necessity at the turn of the century.