Monument to Picasso in his underwear

The monument was unveiled on June 13, 2009, in honor of the pub club's anniversary, commissioned by the owners of the establishment. The work was created by the famous Lviv sculptor Volodymyr Tsisaryk. The pedestal became the first in Ukraine to immortalize the memory of the 20th century artist. If you have not seen a photo of Picasso, you may not recognize the famous Spanish artist. A short, middle-aged man stands in front of a barefoot Pablo, almost naked (he is wearing only shorts), arms folded, smoking a cigarette that glows with a red flame. Picasso had a habit of smoking a cigarette after work. The figure looks strange to those who do not know about the artist's life. There is a legend that at birth Pablo did not show any signs of life, and the midwife went to his mother to tell her the sad news. The uncle of the newborn, who was in the next room during the birth, went to look at the child. While smoking a cigar, the man took in smoke in his lungs and blew a few puffs of smoke into the baby's face, and lo and behold! The child moved and started crying. That's how a cigarette played its role in Pablo's life. "Picasso in his underpants" is the popular name for the pedestal.

If you have any questions about why he is naked, you will hear one of the stories of Lviv. When Picasso visited the city, he left one Lviv establishment half-naked, smoked a cigarette, and came back. Thus, this story impressed Lviv sculptors who reproduced the famous painter in the sculpture. The monument also has a name - "Guardian of Purity". The story is directly related to the present day: to prevent people in Lviv from littering the streets and spoiling yards and entrances, a guardian of Pablo Picasso was installed to watch over intruders. The smoking Picasso has no time to be bored: every day he takes part in photo shoots, and at night he keeps company for smoke breaks. There are 16 sculptures of Pablo Picasso around the world.