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Picasso Museum to reopen after five years

The Picasso Museum underwent some $60 million in renovations over the course of the five years it was closed.

By Danielle Haynes
SLP98120101 - 01 DECEMBER 1998- ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, USA: This protrait painting of N.M. Zeretelli in 1927, is just one of the paintings that will be seen at the St. Louis Art Museum during a special exhibition, scheduled for February 6-May 9, 1999. Beckman and Paris, a special exhibition organized by the St. Louis Art Museum and the Kunsthaus Zurich, brings together for the first time nearly 100 paintings by Max Beckmann, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Fernand Leger, Georges Rouault and Robert Delaunay. The exhibition re-evaluates the traditional image of Beckmann as a quintessential German artist by looking to his time in Paris during the 1920's and '30s and by juxtaposing many of his masterpieces with major paintings by his Paris contemporaries. These juxtapositions evoke striking comparisons in theme and style and present a new, surprising view of Beckmann. bg/HO UPI
SLP98120101 - 01 DECEMBER 1998- ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, USA: This protrait painting of N.M. Zeretelli in 1927, is just one of the paintings that will be seen at the St. Louis Art Museum during a special exhibition, scheduled for February 6-May 9, 1999. Beckman and Paris, a special exhibition organized by the St. Louis Art Museum and the Kunsthaus Zurich, brings together for the first time nearly 100 paintings by Max Beckmann, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Fernand Leger, Georges Rouault and Robert Delaunay. The exhibition re-evaluates the traditional image of Beckmann as a quintessential German artist by looking to his time in Paris during the 1920's and '30s and by juxtaposing many of his masterpieces with major paintings by his Paris contemporaries. These juxtapositions evoke striking comparisons in theme and style and present a new, surprising view of Beckmann. bg/HO UPI | License Photo

PARIS, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Five years after doors were shut for extensive renovations, the Picasso Museum in Paris will reopen to the public.

The facility, a 17th-century mansion in the Marais district of Paris, underwent $60 million in remodeling, during which time reopening was put off due to construction delays and employee disagreements with former president Anne Baldassari.

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Baldassari was dismissed last spring but returned to curate the opening exhibit Saturday, which features 400 artworks.

The museum has about 5,000 works by Pablo Picasso in its collection, most of which were donated by the artist's heirs.

The renovations created bigger, lighter interior areas for exhibitions. There is now 9,800 square feet of exhibition space in 40 rooms.

It really is a new museum, full of light," director Laurent Lebon told BBC. "When you walk around the five stories, you should get a shock of amazement in every room.

"Picasso is as alive today as he ever was. Sculptures, paintings, collages, assemblages, pottery: the variety of the work is endlessly provocative."

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