Picasso first came to the French Riviera in 1920 when he visited Juan les Pins. After that, he frequently returned for a season when he combined work and relaxation. He moved to Mougin in 1936 and stayed until 1939 and the start of the war when he moved to Paris. In 1946 he returned to the Riviera invited by the municipality of Antibes to work in the Grimaldi castle which had been converted into a museum. After 6 months he was invited to stay on and both live and work in the castle. He stayed two years and when he left donated all the works created during that period to the museum. He then moved to the artists’ town of Vallauris where among other things he worked with ceramics and painted the little Chapelle Romane de Vallauris with a mural depicting war and peace.

1955 - 1973
From Vallauris Picasso moved to La Californie in Cannes where he had a huge garden full of his sculptures, but he had become such a celebrity that he found little peace here and bought the Chateau Vauvenargues near Aix to escape to. He lived at Vauvenargues, but missed his friends, the sea and the climate of the riviera, and after a few years returned to Mougin where he lived until his death. Here he was friends with the photographer Ande Villers whose photographs of Picasso are on display in the Photography Museum in Mougin. During this period he drew and painted more than ever before. When he died, he was taken to be buried at Vauvenargues according to his wishes.