Museums - Musée National Picasso

This museum, which opened in 1985, is located in the Hotel Salé, in the heart of the Marais district. The museum is entirely devoted to the life and work of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) and touches on the creative voice the artist found through his interest in African art in the early twentieth century. Eleven African and Oceanic objects are on permanent display and bear witness to his fascination with non-European art.
Picasso began assembling his personal collection of these works in 1907 and eventually brought together more than 100 pieces. Worthy of special note are the famous female Nevimbumbaau sculpture and an imposing ceremonial headdress from Vanuatu, which was offered to him by Matisse at the beginning of the 1950s. Another sculpture from his collection, from the lower Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea, is currently on loan to the Pavillon des Sessions at the Louvre where, one Saturday each month, there is a guided tour on the theme of Picasso and African Art.