Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

In the summer of 1946, Picasso had fallen in love with a new young muse. Françoise Gilot, whom he had met in 1943, came to live with him in April and thus came to share his life. In July, Picasso and Françoise had left for Ménerbed, staying at the house Picasso had bought for Dora Maar, and a few weeks later they moved on to Cap d'Antibes where they stayed with Marie Cuttoli, a patron of the arts and collector. In early August, they travelled on to the home of Louis Fort at Golfe Juan. It was there, in August 1946, that Picasso met Romuald Dor de la Sourchère, the curator of the Antibes museum, located in the Grimaldi palace. He offered Picasso space in the museum for painting. Picasso instead decided to decorate the museum itself. He intensively worked for two months and decorated the walls with 22 panels. The wall decoration, featuring Arcadian themes, became known as the antipolis series after the ancient Greek name for Antibes. Shortly afterward, the museum was renamed the Musée Picasso.

The subject matter of Arcadia and its inhabitants (fauns, satyrs, centaurs), embodies Picasso's exhilaration and excitement about his new love, impending fatherhood (Gilot became pregnant in August) and most importantly his regained freedom after years of war. Picasso's pictures and works on paper from this period thus combine the classical Mediterranean tradition with a new vision, both childlike and complex.