Picasso painted 58 variations of Velázquez’s “Las Meninas” in 1957.
The series was created at Picasso’s La Californie studio in Cannes between August and December 1957. Rather than making a straightforward copy, he repeatedly dismantled and rebuilt the Spanish master’s composition, changing scale, viewpoint, color, lighting and the prominence of individual figures.
The full group contains 45 direct interpretations of Velázquez’s painting, alongside nine pigeon pictures, three landscapes and a portrait of Jacqueline. This broader breakdown explains why some references mention 45 rather than 58; 58 is the accepted total for Picasso’s complete “Las Meninas” series.
Picasso donated the entire group to the Museu Picasso in Barcelona in 1968, and the paintings remain together there. Velázquez’s original, painted around 1656, is in Madrid’s Prado Museum.