Paris - Picasso Museum

(Local Name: Musée Picasso) The undoubted creator of the Picasso Museum was André Malraux. It was on his initiative, when Minister of Culture, that a law was passed enabling important works of art to be accepted in payment of estate duty. After the death of Pablo Picasso the State became the owner of 203 paintings, 159 works of sculpture, 30 reliefs, 16 paper collages, 88 ceramic pieces and over 3,000 sheets of drawings and printed graphic art, as well as illustrated manuscripts and correspondence.

The collection is displayed in the Hôtel Salé, a magnificent town mansion with semicircular wings built for Albert de Fontenay by Jean Boullier and lavishly decorated by Martin Desjardin and the Marsy brothers. As Fontenay was a salt-tax collector his house became known as the Hôtel Salé ("Salt House").

The Picasso collection is complemented by a selection of works by artists who influenced him, including Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse, Derain, Braque, Miró and Rousseau.