THE BUZZ | ‘Nearly empty’ Picasso museum open in Paris

Paris’ Picasso museum is reopening for two days this weekend after five years of closure over a renovation fraught with setbacks, accusations and sackings. But if the public expects art they’ll be disappointed: it’s practically empty. “I will first of all calm your ardor and your enthusiasm … but you’re going to see nothing. It’s a great disappointment. It’s an empty museum,” Laurent Le Bon, the museum’s president, said during Friday’s preview reception. He has been in the job for just three months. His predecessor was sacked in May over the lagging renovation, amid accusations of mismanagement and clashes between the government and the artist’s family. The 37 rooms of Musee Picasso, located inside the Marais district’s grand 17th-century Hotel de Sale, are being temporarily opened in honor of France’s annual heritage weekend. The museum, which is under the stewardship of the French government, won’t officially open until Oct. 25 and until then the art is collecting dust in storage. It will house a 52-million-euro (about USD72 million) renovation, which organizers hope will end the museum’s seemingly endless problems.