Musée Picasso

Antibes, France

The Musée Picasso, formerly the Château Grimaldi at Antibes, is built upon the foundations of the ancient Greek town of Antipolis. The castle was a residence of the bishops in the Middle Ages (from 442 to 1385). The castle was moved in 1385 to the Monegasque family. In 1608 it became a stronghold of the Grimaldi family and has borne their name ever since. In 1702 it became the town hall of Antibes.

From 1925 the chateau was known as the Grimaldi Museum. In 1946 it was the home for six months of the artist Pablo Picasso. Today the museum is known as the Picasso Museum, the first museum in the world to be dedicated to the artist.

Picasso himself donated works to the museum, most notably his paintings 'The Goat' and 'La Joie de Vivre'. In 1990 Jacqueline Picasso bequested many works by Picasso to the museum. These included 4 paintings, 10 drawings, 2 ceramics and 6 etchings. These are displayed at the Château in addition to the 3 works on paper, 60 etchings and 6 carpets by Pablo Picasso which the museum collected between 1952 and 2001. Today the collection totals 245 works by Picasso.

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 11th century / 1966 (museum)
Category: Museums in France
Historical period: Birth of Capetian dynasty (France)

Rating

4.3/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Nikola Kroulíková (17 months ago)
Nice and easy accessible museum with works from the last productive period of the artist. Beautiful sea views. A coffee shop or more opportunities to sit down after the exhibition would be needed.
Galya Tchakarova (18 months ago)
Definitely worth visiting if you like art! Located in old Antibes downtown and overlooking the Mediterranean, the museum is housed in the Grimaldi villa and currently exhibits Picasso's last period of work (1969-1973) Very spacious and well curated. Cost is €8, the museum is open from 10AM to 1PM and from 2PM to 6PM.
Stephen Mitchell (19 months ago)
Great Picasso 3 story stone museum showing many of his works after 1946 and created in this building - plus some other artists' works from the same period. It's in an excellent location the Garibaldi Castle on the waterfront and the 3 floors are accessible by stairs. Luckily, there is a glass elevator for those of us with creaky bones. (But you will be sharing it with the crying baby in a stroller crowd . . . ) Take some extra time outside on the terrace too. The sculptures & gardens are well suited for each other. Many of us plan trips like ours around museums of this quality.
Meryem K. (21 months ago)
The museum where Picasso himself had stayed for 2 months and worked on different paintings and artworks, that are now displayed inside the museum. We specifically took the train from Nice to Antibes (20 mins ride) just to visit the museum and it was worth it
ΜΚ (2 years ago)
I liked very much but 4 stars because were missing many information in English and as foreign vistors we would like to know them. Otherwise it was great!
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Vufflens Castle

Vufflens castle was built in 1425 on the site of a previous medieval castle by Henri de Colombier. It is the most significant example of a small group of fortified Romandy castles from the middle ages, characterised above all by its brick construction. In 1530, it was set on fire by Bernese troops. In 1641 it was acquired by the de Senarclens family. The castle is currently privately owned and cannot be visited.

A pleasant 30 minute-walk through the vineyards between Vufflens-le-Château and Denens, offers a stunning view of this magnificent castle, the lake and the Mont-Blanc.