On 27 December 1966, Grimaldi Castle was turned into the « Picasso Museum ». The building was extensively renovated between 2006 and 2008. Built on what had been the ancient Greek Acropolis of
Antipolis, and then a Roman castrum and a Medieval bishopric, it was owned until 1608 by the Grimaldi family, giving the Castle its name, and then in 1925 it was acquired by the City of Antibes.
In 1946, Picasso, who was living nearby in Golfe-Juan with Françoise Gilot, accepted curator Dor de la Souchère’s offer to set up his studio in the Castle. Picasso enthusiastically worked from mid September through mid November of 1946, creating many works, sketches and paintings, including Les Clés d’Antibes (The Keys of Antibes), covering an entire wall surface. While the poverty in which he lived during the postwar period can doubtless be seen in the different paints and unusual materials (Ripolin, fribrocement, plywood…) that he was using, these serve above all as a testimony of the artist’s propensity to experiment with new materials. The pictures he painted then express the joy of living in a country which had regained its freedom. When the artist decided to move back to Paris, he left 23 paintings and 44 sketches in the Castle’s custody.
On 22 September 1947 the Picasso gallery was inaugurated, together with a first display of the Antibes works; then, opening on 7 September 1948, an exhibition entitled Picasso, ceramics – paintings – sketches was mounted. On 13 September 1949, new galleries displaying Picasso’s ceramic works, paintings and drawings were opened to the public. Subsequently, apart
from the 78 ceramic works created between 1947 and 1948 at Madoura de Vallauris’ workshop, various
donations and purchases spanning from 1952 until the present day, as well as the custody pieces conferred by Jacqueline Picasso en 1991, have significantly enriched the Picasso collection of the Museum. Nicolas de Staël’s works presented at the Museum bear testimony to the artist’s stay at Antibes from September 1954 to March 1955. During this period, he painted still life pictures as well as seascapes, landscapes and workshop subjects. A first donation to the Picasso Museum was made by his widow following the exhibition which was dedicated to the artist in 1955. From 1982 on, thanks namely to the regional acquisition Fund for the museums, the town acquired important works dating from his last period, as well as sketches dated 1954-1955. In 2001, a donation by the Hans Hartung and Anna- Eva Bergman Foundation provided for the opening of two new galleries on the ground floor of the museum.
A permanent exhibition permits retraces the creative periods of each of these artists over several decades. The Modern Art collection, begun in 1951 by Dor de la Souchère, has grown thanks to exceptional gifts from artists whose works had been exhibited at the Museum and to equally exceptional acquisitions made over the years by the City of Antibes. This includes artists representative of the main trends of the 20th Century and the beginning of the 21th Century:
Arman, Atlan, Balthus, Buraglio, César, Dezeuze, Ernst, Gleizes, Hains, Hartung, Klein, Magnelli, Music, Pagès, Picabia, Pincemin, Raysse, Sarkis, Spoerri, Tàpies, Viallat, etc.
The terrace of the Picasso Museum is home to a permanent collection of remarkable sculptures by Germaine Richier. Other artists represented are: Joan Miró, Bernard Pagès, Anne and Patrick Poirier.