Paris Sights
- Overview
- Itineraries
- Places to Explore
- Sights
- Restaurants
- Hotels
- Entertainment
- Shopping
- Travel Tips
- Features
- Fodor's Choice
- Deals
- French Phrases
- Guidebooks
Guidebooks
Musée Picasso
Musée Picasso Review
To the chagrin of Picasso fans everywhere, this immensely popular museum closed in August 2009 for a top-to-bottom overhaul. It is set to reopen at the end of 2013. (About 200 works from the permanent collection have been on the road in the United States and elsewhere during the renovation.) The $62 million face-lift will thoroughly transform the Picasso, more than quadrupling the museum's size to 75,000 square feet with new galleries and a performance space. A new 4,800-square-foot building in the back garden, dedicated to temporary exhibitions and other programs, will open when the final stage is completed in spring 2014.
HIGHLIGHTS
The collection of more than 100,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and documents (much of it previously in storage for lack of space) spans Picasso's entire life's work, from the Blue Period to Surrealism, when he painted perhaps his most renowned work, the mammoth Guernica, which hangs in the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid. The Paris collection does not comprise the master's most famous works, but rather "Picasso's Picassos," many of the paintings and sculptures treasured most by the artist, including his personal collection of works by friends and influences such as Matisse, Braque, Cézanne, and Rousseau. There is a detailed overview of Picasso's life and loves, with information in English. The museum opened in 1985 in the regal 17th-century Hôtel Salé as a permanent home for the collection, after much of it was given to the government by the artist's heirs to settle a hefty tax bill after the painter's death in 1973.
While the museum projects its reopening for summer 2013, delays are likely. Check the website for updates or call before you go.
- Address: 5 rue de Thorigny, Marais, Paris, 75003 | Map It
- Phone: 01-42-71-25-21
- Cost: Admission to be determined when opened
- Website: www.musee-picasso.fr
- Metro St-Sébastien.
- Location: The Marais
Contact Information
Free Fodor's Newsletter
Subscribe today for weekly travel inspiration, tips, and special offers.
Fodor's Trip Planning Ideas
- Weekend Getaways: Fodor's Recommends the Best Weekend Escapes in the US
- Great American Vacation: Find Your Next U.S. Trip with Fodor's
- 80 Degrees: Fodor's Helps You Find Your Best Beach Vacation Spots
- Go List: Fodor's Top 25 Places to Go in 2013
- Hotel Awards 2012: Fodor's 100 Top Hotels
- Best of Europe: Fodor's Picks the Best Places to Visit in Europe
Travel Deals in Paris
- $1799 & up -- 'World's Best': Luxe European Cruises, 70% Off Windstar Cruises
· Forums Trip Reports
-
Today you should wear pretty much everything you brought, and you may need to buy some more.
The temperature is 52F, winds about 15 with higher gusts. Hard rain showers interspersed with bright sun. Tomorrow Read more -
May, 2013 My partner and I travelled for 14 days in Provence and Paris in May 2013. Read more
·France Forum
-
Today you should wear pretty much everything you brought, and you may need to buy some more.
The temperature is 52F, winds about 15 with higher gusts. Hard rain showers interspersed with bright sun. Tomorrow Read more
· News & Features
-
Restaurants, Wine & Cocktails
The bistro scene in Paris is as hot as ever, with endless worthy newcomers to scope out.... Read more
-
Travel Tips
Springtime in Paris is legendary—the stuff of song lyrics, poems, and movie titles.... Read more
-
Travel Tips
Paris is one of the world's most visited cities for good reason—it has more great food, style, history,... Read more




