¡¡¡¡Don Jose Ruiz, Pablo's father, was director of the museum at Malaga in southern Spain. He earned only a small salary, but there was not much work to do and he was able to practice his hobby, which was painting pigeons. Don Jose loved pigeons very much. He painted them dead or alive in ones and twos and in dozens. Sometimes he painted them on paper, cut them out and stuck them onto canvas; sometimes he stuck real feathers onto his pictures. He knew a great deal about the technique of painting and he taught it all to Pablo.

¡¡¡¡Life in Malaga was very pleasant. In the hot, Mediterranean sunshine father and son would walk down to the beach to look at the boats on the shore or wander around the open markets. They made a strange pair. Don Jose was tall and thin, with red hair and beard, sad gray eyes and a fine set of whiskers. He was so shy and correct that he was nicknamed "the Englishman"*. Pablo was quite the opposite. He had his mother's small, strong build; he had straight black hair, and bright black eyes that noticed everything that was going on around him.