Picasso Museum in Paris closes for renovations
Doors shut on Monday
Last Updated: Sunay, August 23, 2009 | 10:29 AM ET

Sunday was the last day to visit the Picasso Museum in Paris for the next 2½ years and admission was free.

On Monday, the museum was to close its doors for extensive renovations and expansion. Its collection of 5,000 original works by Pablo Picasso will be stored in high-security government warehouses, and lending of works to other venues will be curtailed until the museum reopens, museum director Anne Baldassari told The Associated Press on Saturday.



In his later years, the Spanish painter divided his time between Paris and Provence. When he died in 1973, many of his works became the property of the French government. The national museum authority opened the Picasso Museum in 1985 in the Hôtel Salé, a 17th-century baroque mansion in the fashionable Marais district of Paris.

The museum also displays some works by Cézanne and Matisse.



Renovation of the 32,000-square-foot space will cost about $20 million Cdn and will be completed in February 2012, the museum said in a statement. It will include electrical upgrading, making the building more accessible to visitors with reduced mobility, expanding exhibition space and adding halls for student activities.

The museum has been able to display only between 250 and 300 of its works at a time, Baldassari said. "We can't continue like this."



The museum will continue to host education and cultural events related to the Picasso collection at other locations during the renovations.