An exhibition of sculptures by Picasso, who is better known for his Cubist and surrealist works, opens on Tuesday in the legendary Spanish artist's hometown of Malaga. 

Housed at the southern resort city's Picasso Museum, the "Picasso Sculptor. Matter and Body" exhibition brings together 61 sculptures he made between 1909 and 1964.

It forms part of the global celebrations marking 50 years since the artist's death and will run until September 10. 

"It is the first major exhibition in Spain devoted exclusively to Picasso’s sculpture," the exhibition's curator Carmen Gimenez told reporters. 

"The human body was always his primary interest and for that reason" it is the focus of this exhibition, she added. 

Among the works on display are the "Reclining bather" (1931), a plaster sculpture of a woman lying down, "Woman with vase" (1933), a bronze woman fashioned from ovals, and "Child" (1960), a rounded face with arms and legs, also in bronze.  

The exhibition traces Picasso's development as an artist over almost six decades of sculpting.

It reflects the influences of Cubism, abstraction and 'found object' (pieces made with items not normally used in art) through works made in materials from wood and iron to cement, metal and bronze. 

Sculpture was one of Picasso's lesser-known talents and the artist "may have made some 700 sculptures compared to the approximately 4,500 paintings he produced", the Picasso Museum said.

The start of the exhibition coincides with the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Picasso Museum of Malaga. 

Picasso was born in Malaga in 1881 and died in Mougins on the French Riviera in 1973. 

He first mooted the idea of a Picasso museum in Malaga in 1953 but it only became a reality five decades later in 2003, according to the museum's website. 

vid-du/hmw/gil