A post called French Riviera Art Trail showed how the already mature artist Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) moved permanently to Vallauris, next to the town of Antibes, in the 1950s. There he slowly learned the skills of pottery art at the Galerie Madoura. The artist must have been busy – he created 4,000 pieces of ceramics during his life there. Vallauris was already well known for its ceramics, but Picasso made the industry even more famous. The Ceramics Museum is thus a living reminder of Picasso’s and other ceramic artists’ contributions.
The old Grimaldi family castle in Vallauris was built in the Renaissance style and later converted into the town hall of Antibes. After WW1, the chateau became known as the Grimaldi Museum. Since it was the home of artist Pablo Picasso after WW2, the castle was eventually turned into the Picasso Museum, one of the first museums anywhere to be dedicated to that artist.
Picasso himself donated important works to the museum, especially his paintings The Goat and La Joie de Vivre. Jacqueline Roque married Picasso in Vallauris in March 1961 and she too presented the museum with many important Picasso art objects. Today the museum holds 245 works by Picasso, collected from 1952 on.
On the walls of a ruined Romanesque chapel, in the Castle at Vallauris, lies the Musée National Picasso’s War and Peace. In 1952, Picasso had decided to erect a temple there with his monumental composition. He painted two huge panels, one portraying the horrors of war and one depicting the benefits of peace. Another panel was added at the far end of the chapel to make the link between the two themes.
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Musée Picasso
in Le Marais district of Paris
Opened in 1985, closed in 2009 for renovations, due to open September 2014
So the south of France is well served, but what about Paris? The post Le Marais, Paris showed how the main hôtels particuliers (private houses) were not pulled down in Le Marais. Instead they became excellent museums eg the Paris Historical Museum is in Hôtel Carnavalet. Where possible, the interiors of these private houses were maintained and modernised.
The old Grimaldi family castle in Vallauris was built in the Renaissance style and later converted into the town hall of Antibes. After WW1, the chateau became known as the Grimaldi Museum. Since it was the home of artist Pablo Picasso after WW2, the castle was eventually turned into the Picasso Museum, one of the first museums anywhere to be dedicated to that artist.
Picasso himself donated important works to the museum, especially his paintings The Goat and La Joie de Vivre. Jacqueline Roque married Picasso in Vallauris in March 1961 and she too presented the museum with many important Picasso art objects. Today the museum holds 245 works by Picasso, collected from 1952 on.
On the walls of a ruined Romanesque chapel, in the Castle at Vallauris, lies the Musée National Picasso’s War and Peace. In 1952, Picasso had decided to erect a temple there with his monumental composition. He painted two huge panels, one portraying the horrors of war and one depicting the benefits of peace. Another panel was added at the far end of the chapel to make the link between the two themes.
in Le Marais district of Paris
Opened in 1985, closed in 2009 for renovations, due to open September 2014
So the south of France is well served, but what about Paris? The post Le Marais, Paris showed how the main hôtels particuliers (private houses) were not pulled down in Le Marais. Instead they became excellent museums eg the Paris Historical Museum is in Hôtel Carnavalet. Where possible, the interiors of these private houses were maintained and modernised.
Picasso had amassed an enormous collection of his own work by the time of his death in 1973 and bequeathed them to the French state in his will. Paris' Musée Picasso, which opened in 1985 in the old Hôtel Salé, gathered thousands of the artist's own art objects, plus Picasso's personal art collection of works by Cézanne, Degas, Seurat, Matisse and others.
In time the museum had to be renovated. The decision to renovate the façades, the exterior decoration and the surrounding wall was easy; it all took place between 2006 and 2009. This operation was effective in saving the important sculptural pieces of the building’s mouldings and pediments.
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Musée Picasso, Paris before it closed. The rooms were arranged chronologically.
But the old palace also needed major extensions and this was where things went badly wrong. What caused the delay in reopening the Picasso Museum in Le Marais district and what caused a serious financial blowout? The final bill for the renovated 17th-century baroque mansion now stands at €52million. I hope it will be worth it. The museum's exhibition space has been more than doubled to 3,800 square metres after the renovation, and the garden and the planted terrace were redesigned.
But the old palace also needed major extensions and this was where things went badly wrong. What caused the delay in reopening the Picasso Museum in Le Marais district and what caused a serious financial blowout? The final bill for the renovated 17th-century baroque mansion now stands at €52million. I hope it will be worth it. The museum's exhibition space has been more than doubled to 3,800 square metres after the renovation, and the garden and the planted terrace were redesigned.
Alas there is a serious a fight between the French Culture Ministry and the family of Pablo Picasso. As of September 2014, the museum is still not ready. Claude Picasso, Pablo’s only living son, was furious that the museum’s director (Anne Baldassari) was sacked by the Culture Ministry. She had been the driving force behind the renovations, and as a result of her dismissal, Claude Picasso threatened to withhold donations of his father’s work to the museum.
The 37 rooms of renovated Musee Picasso are being temporarily opened this weekend (Sept 2014) in honour of France's annual heritage weekend. But the rooms will be empty; the enormous collection of paintings and sculptural works will still be in storage.