In around mid-September 1895 Picasso arrived with his family in Barcelona. (…) Barcelona, a thousand-year-old city, was emerging from an almost death-like sleep. (…) Similarly, Picasso, who had come from a sleepy region of Spain, was alert and ready to react against the pettiness that he had seen and experienced. (…) This state of mind, along with Catalan nationalism, shaped his consciousness and mentality, like most other young people of that era. (…) Between 1895 and 1897, Picasso took academic courses in the Academy of Fine Arts, then from 1899 to 1900 he frequented the famous Els Quatre Gats (Four Cats) café. (…)