Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The project of a museum in Vallauris emerged in the 1930s, but took shape in the 1940s thanks to René Batigne and his wife Claire Voight Batigne, a Franco-American couple of collectors. Located in the city, they found the workshop of the Green Carpet and revive the local artistic life. In 1949, an exhibition entitled From Palissy to Picasso was organized, and in 1951, they created the Association of Friends of the Museum. The abandoned chapel, restored by their care, became a place of exhibition, welcoming in 1954 Picasso's War and Peace, specially designed for space. The National Museum was officially opened in 1959.

In the 1960s, the City of Vallauris revived the project of a municipal museum and acquired the current building in 1972. The same decade saw the creation of the International Biennial of Ceramics of Art (1968), whose award-winning works form the core of the collections. The museum opened in 1977 under the name Magnelli Museum, in tribute to the painter whose widow donated an important collection in 1977. Since then, he has highlighted the ceramics of the 1950s, notably Picasso editions made by Madoura, as well as the pieces from the biennials.

The museum is part of an older historical heritage: the chapel, originally built in the 12th century by the monks of Lérins, has undergone various transformations. Disused in 1791, it houses an oil mill before being restored by the Voight Batigne. The adjacent castle, now Picasso Museum, bears witness to this complex history, mixing medieval heritage, Renaissance and artistic modernity. The current collections reflect this eclecticness, combining contemporary art, traditional ceramics and avant-garde creations.

External links