Visit to Mougins Picasso Statue by Dutch Sculptor Gabriël Sterk

The Paul Cézanne statue at the Rotonde in Aix is the work of Dutch sculptor Gabriël Sterk who not only produced it but also organized its funding: when I interviewed him at the time, he explained that he had recently moved to the town and couldn’t understand why there was no permanent memorial to the artist. who not only produced it but also organized its funding: when I interviewed him at the time, he explained that he had recently moved to the town and couldn’t understand why there was no permanent memorial to the artist.

Continue reading here for details on this latest sculpture by Gabriël Sterk, an oversized Picasso’s head, cast in bronze, installed in Place des Patriotes, Mougins. As Lynne mentions the statue is hard to miss as it stands 2.4m high and weighs roughly 500 kilograms.

Pablo Picasso first discovered Mougins with his muse, Dora Marr, in 1935. During the period from 1961 to 1973, he lived and worked in this hilltop town, located just a few minutes from the Cote d’Azur and the glitz of Cannes. Piccaso and his wife Jacqueline lived at Notre Dame de Vie near the Chapel of the same name. Originally built by the Guinness family (more detail here), Picasso purchased the 35-room villa, and it was there where he died in 1973 at the age of 91. The villa is privately owned.

Gabriël Sterk also created the beautiful sculpture of Vincent Van Gogh located inside the main entrance to Saint Paul de Mausole, in St Remy de Provence. This is the mental institution where Van Gogh spent just over a year — May 8, 1889, to May 16, 1890.

Mougins Visitor information:

You want to visit this town for its history, art galleries and gastronomic reputation.

Mougins Tourist Office
39 Place des Patriotes
06250 Mougins, France
Tel: +33(0)4 92 92 14 00