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A visit to the Picasso Museum is a moving experience It evokes joy and pain, despondency and exultation Visitors cannot help but sense all that has gone on within these walls that were the Antibes Chateau There was the delicate balance of a family relationship and the ensuing drama; the intrusion of the museum on the chateau; the silence and the magic The chateau of Antibes is poetic, serious and joyous at one and the same time, like the sea that is visible from many of its windows A place which saw nobility and poverty and which one day became the home of the Spanish artist Picasso, who continued the magic The museum is not to be understood, it is to be experienced It is what it is, take it or leave it

Founded on the ancient acropolis of the Greek town Acropolis, a Roman castle, residence of bishops in the Middle Ages (442 to 1385), the Chateau Grimaldi then became the home of the Monaco family which gave it their name

Luc and Marc Grimaldi, crossbowmen in the service of Queen Jeanne, received the property as a private kingdom by the act of 27 May 1383 There they reigned until 1608, date of the purchase by Henry VI and Sully from Alexander Grimaldi of the land, town and port of Antibes to the profit of the kingdom of France

It became the home of the king's governor, and from 1792, the town hall It was a military barracks in 1820, marking the acquisition of it by the Military Engineering Corps until 1924, but was greatly neglected in the meantime
Professor of French, Greek and Latin at Lycée Carnot in Cannes since 1921, Romuald Dor de la Souchère commenced archeological research studies in Antibes in 1923, concentrating on military establishments He discovered a great many Greek and Roman ruins in the area, and was very interested in the sale of the chateau by the Domaines

On 29 March 1924, Dor de la Souchère formed the Society of Friends of Antibes Museum under the title of “Ligurian Group of studies of history and archaeology”, which endeavoured to found a history and archeology museum and to discover the history of the region
 
In 1925, the State fixed a sale price of F80,000 on the Chateau Grimaldi, and it was bought by Antibes Council (with a F50,000 subsidy and money raised through sixty donations organised by the Society of Friends) The chateau thus became the Grimaldi Museum, and Romuald Sor de la Souchère was the curator Three years later, the building was classified as a historic monument

In September 1945, Pablo Picasso went to the Grimaldi Museum for an exhibition of children's paintings, organised by the British Council, the first exhibition after the six years the museum was closed because of the war

From August 1946, Picasso and his young companion, Françoise Gilot, stayed with the printer Louis Fort at his villa “Pour Toi” in Golfe Juan port Sculptor and photographer Michel Sima became acquainted with Romuald Dor de la Souchère, who knew Pablo Picasso

Romuald Dor de la Souchère then suggested that Picasso use part of the museum as his studio, in particular the large gallery called the south wing on the second floor (In 1928, this room displayed the work of artists such as Roger Bissière, Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Henri Lebasque, Paul Signac, Kees van Dongen, Maurice de Vlaminck for the Masters and Young Contemporaries Exhibition (22 July to 22 August 1928), the first exhibition of modern painting organised at the museum)

Picasso was enthusiastic: “I'm not only going to paint, I'll decorate the museum too” (Francoise Gilot in Living with Picasso, Calmann-Levy 1965) He worked at the chateau from mid-September to mid-November and produced a great deal of work, both drawings and paintings, among them The Keys of Antibes, on a wall panel In September 1947, he painted Ulysses and the mermaids

The unusual materials that he used, such as house paint, fibrocement and plates, show not only the penury of this post-war period, but also the incredible resourcefulness of the artist to experiment with materials that were available

His paintings show the joy he felt at living in a country that was once more free

Following his stay in 1946, Pablo Picasso left what he had produced to Antibes town: 23 paintings (ripolin, charcoal, graphite on fibrocement, re-used wood or canvas) and 44 drawings Among his paintings, the most famous are: La Joie de Vivre, Satyr, Faun and satyr with trident, Sea Urchins, Woman with Sea Urchins, Still Life with Owl and three Sea Urchins, The Goat Among his drawings, the most representative are: Antipolis Suite, Heads of Fauns and Studies for the Female figure
 
On 27 September 1947 the Picasso Room was officially opened and the first exhibition of art of Antibes was shown in the west room, with a large number of people present, the first event that celebrated the artist's stay in Antibes
On 7 September 1948, the New Picasso Collection: Ceramics-Paintings-Drawings was on show to the public This exhibition showed his significant ceramic skill with 77 pieces (51 dated 1947 and 14 dated 1948) done at the Madoura studio in Vallauris Among these were the well-known Tanagra urn, Standing bull, Owl in ovoid, The wader, The condor, Kid goat reclining In 1950 and 1954, 1 painting and 2 sculptures (Head of woman with chignon, 1932 and Head of woman with big eyes, 1931-32) completed this collection 

On 13 September 1949, at the opening of the “French carpets” exhibition, a new gallery dedicated to the paintings, ceramics and drawings of Picasso was open to the public

On 23 February 1957, Picasso officially received the title of Citizen of honour of Antibes at a ceremony at Chateau Grimaldi
On 27 December 1966, Antibes council once more paid homage to Pablo Picasso and Chateau Grimaldi was renamed the Picasso Museum, the first museum dedicated to the artist

In 1990, the Jacqueline Picasso bequest added greatly to the Picasso collection, it comprised 4 paintings, 10 drawings, 2 ceramics and 6 etchings From 1952 to 2001, different donations and acquisitions included 3 works on paper, 60 etchings and 6 carpets by Pablo Picasso The Picasso Museum in Antibes holds approximately 245 works by the artist today 

The work by Nicolas de Stael was executed during a stay by the painter in Antibes from September 1954 to March 1955 During this time he produced still lifes and marine and countryside scenes The donation of his work to the Picasso Museum was made by his widow at the 1955 exhibition of the artist's work

From 1982, aided by Regional Art Collection funds, Antibes council acquired important work from his last period, as well as drawings done in 1954

In 2001, a donation by the Hans Hartung and Anna-Eva Bergman Foundation enabled two new galleries to be opened on the ground floor of the museum A permanent exhibition of the two artists' work over several decades was installed

The collection of modern art, started in 1951 by Dor de la Souchère, has been added to with donations by exhibiting artists as well as purchases over the years by Antibes council

Important 20th century artists representing different art movements are in the collections, including Hartung, Klein, Magnelli, Music, Pagès, Picabia, Pincemin, Raysse, Spoerri, Viallat and many more
 
On the terrace of the Picasso Museum, there is a permanent exhibition of an excellent collection of sculptures by Germaine Richier Other artists exhibited there are Joan Miro, Bernard Pagès, Anne and Patrick Poirier